Spain is one of the 18 competing countries at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2025 in Tbilisi this coming Saturday. Their artist Gonzalo Pinillos will perform “Érase una vez (Once Upon a Time)” in slot number 14 during the show.
Copenhagen 2003
Spain was among the sixteen countries that competed in the first edition of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest in Copenhagen. Sergio was chosen to represent Spain at the first contest with his song “Desde el cielo”.
Performing 9th on the night, Spain was in close competition for victory at the first contest with the United Kingdom and Croatia. Picking up 12 points from Latvia and the United Kingdom, Spain finished 2nd with 125 points. It was a strong start for Spain, something that would repeat itself in the early editions of the contest.
Lillehammer 2004
The winner of Junior Eurovision 2004 – Image source: b.dk
For Lillehammer, Spain selected its first girl to compete in the contest. Over 3,000 singers applied to compete in the Spanish selection. MarĂa Isabel eventually took victory in Eurojunior with “Antes muerta que sencilla”.
There was no confusion as to where the song was from with Spanish elements in both the song and the staging. Spain competed once again with the United Kingdom and Croatia in the top three spots. However, this year it was MarĂa Isabel who took victory scoring 171 points, 30 points ahead of second place, by receiving 8 sets of 12 points.
Hasselt 2005
Unlike later editions of Junior Eurovision, Spain didn’t automatically receive the right to host with Belgium having already been chosen as the 2005 host country.
Spain selected its second boy for the contest with Antonio José competing with “Te traigo flores”. The song, which again featured strong Spanish elements, closely fought for victory, something that Spain was becoming very familiar with. Antonio finished second in Hasslelt, just 3 points behind winners Belarus on 146 points.
Bucharest 2006
From Belgium, the contest travelled to Romania, with Dani selected through a national selection to represent Spain in Bucharest. “Te doy mi voz” was a modern pop song that continued the country’s history of sending strong songs to contest.
For the first time however, Spain placed outside of the top three in the competition. Dani Fernández finished 4th in Romania scoring 90 points. He also became the first Spanish Junior Eurovision artist not to receive 12 points.
2006 would be the last time Spain would be seen at Junior Eurovision for over 10 years, with the Spanish broadcaster withdrawing from the contest in 2007.
Gliwice 2019
Image Source: Thomas Hanses
Spain returned to Junior Eurovision after a thirteen year absence when the contest travelled to Poland for the first time, just one year after fellow Big 5 member France also made a valiant return and joining Italy, who had been the sole member to compete for multiple years now. Melani Garcia was internally selected for the contest, the first time a Spanish artist and song was selected by the broadcaster alone.
With a song that spoke of the importance of protecting the seas, “Marte” flew the Spanish flag in Gliwice. Spain returned to the contest with a strong result, finishing 3rd with 212 points. They came 3rd in the jury vote and 2nd in the online vote. Spain looked like it was coming back fighting for a victory.
Warsaw 2020
Image Source: RTVE / Raul Tejedor
While COVID-19 saw many nations withdraw from Junior Eurovision in 2020, Spain was one of twelve countries to compete in the contest.
Soleá was chosen from an open call for singers to represent Spain with the song “Palante” written for her. With a strong Spanish flair, it was thought the song could recreate the winning moment from the 2004 contest.
It was another strong result in Warsaw, which saw Spain finishing 3rd with 133 points. Spain was again the second favourite of the public, but was less popular with the juries, finishing 6th.
Paris 2021
Image Source: RTVE
In 2021, RTVE selected a boy for Junior Eurovision for the first time since 2006. Levi DĂaz competed in the contest in Paris with “ReĂr”.
For the first time, Spain placed outside of the top ten in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest. Unlike all its previous attempts, Spain placed 15th in the final with 77 points. Spain was 14th with the jury, scoring 30 points, while joint 12th in the online voting with 47 points. The result came as a surprise for many who had expected to see Spain secure yet another top five finish in the contest.
Yerevan 2022
Carlos Higes, Spain. Image source: AMPTV
Undeterred by its 15th place in Paris, Carlos Higes was chosen from an open audition process to compete at the 20th Junior Eurovision Song Contest in Yerevan.
The young singer from Valencia brought a fun pop song to the stage in Armenia with “Señorita”. Spain got the results it had been used to, finishing 6th with 137 points, including 12 points from the jury of the United Kingdom. Spain also replicated its feat from 2019 and 2020 of placing 2nd with the online vote, this time finishing ahead of eventual winners France.
Nice 2023
Spain – Sandra Valero
Image source: EBU / Corinne Cumming
Off the back of success in Yerevan, Spain selected its first girl for the contest since 2020, with Sandra Valero selected through an audition process.
“Loviu” opened the contest in Nice with a fun-filled performance in the arena. Spain went in to the contest as one of the favourites to take victory alongside France and Armenia.
Spain would yet again place 2nd in the online vote, scoring 86 points, while the jury placed Spain 3rd. The country, however, improved its number of 12 points received, receiving the highest points from Estonia, France, Georgia and Italy. This meant Spain narrowly lost out to France, who took victory on home soil.
Madrid 2024
Fresh from second place, Spain returned in 2024. However, this time a new opportunity came their way. France, who had won the previous year, announced they were not using their first refusal privilege to host the 2024 contest, due to having hosted two editions recently and focusing on the upcoming Olympic Games in Paris for 2024. RTVE was instead chosen to host last year’s contest in Madrid. Their hosting was a poignant moment as it also marked the 20th anniversary of their only win in the contest to date and 55 years since a Eurovision event was last held in Spain.
Image Source: Corinne Cumming/EBU
Chloe DelaRosa represented Spain on home soil with the song “Como la Lola“. As the host nation, Spain were expected to dominate the voting. However, they only managed fifth in the online vote and sixth in the jury, bringing Chloe to sixth overall.
Junior Eurovision 2025
Junior Eurovision 2025 will be held on December 13 in Tbilisi after Andria Putkaradze gave Georgia their record-breaking fourth victory with “To My Mom”. The contest will be held at the Olympic Palace, which previously hosted the Junior Eurovision Song Contest in 2017.
A total of 18 countries will participate in Junior Eurovision 2025. These countries are:
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 Malta: Eliza Borg – “I Believe”
 Azerbaijan: YaÄźmur – “Miau miau”
Croatia: Marino Vrgoč – “Snovi”
 San Marino: Martina Crv – “Beyond the Stars”
 Armenia: Albert – “Brave Heart”
 Ukraine: Sofia Neresesian – “Motanka”
 Ireland: Lottie O’Driscoll Murray – “Rúin”
 Netherlands: Meadow – “Freeze”
 Poland: Marianna Kłos – “Brightest Light”
 North Macedonia: Nela Mančeska – “Miracle”
 Montenegro: Asja Džogović – “I tužna i srećna priča”
 Italy: Leonardo Giovannangeli – “Rockstar”
 Portugal: Inês Gonçalves – “Para onde vai o amor?”
 Spain: Gonzalo Pinillos – “Érase una vez (Once Upon a Time)”
 Georgia: Anita Abgariani – “Shine like a star”
 Cyprus: Rafaella Panteli and Christos Georgiou – “Away”
 France: Lou Deleuze – “Ce monde”
 Albania: Kroni Pula – “Fruta perime”
Image Source: b.dk
