“We cannot allow double standards,” said Sánchez, in a speech at an event in Madrid in which he emphasised that “nobody held their hands up” when Russia was excluded from international sports competitions or initiatives like Eurovision.

“Neither should Israel. We can't allow double standards, including in culture,” said Sánchez, before sending “a hug of solidarity to the Ukrainian and Palestinian people, who are experiencing the irrationality of war and bombing”.

Sánchez considered that “those who argue that the cultural sector should be equidistant are wrong” and said that “culture is the most authentic and freeway” of expressing ideas and values.

“Those who use culture to defend values that are being questioned are right,” such as democracy, equality, the defence of the environment or an end to war, “whether in Ukraine or Gaza,” stressed the leader of the Spanish government.

Sánchez has been one of the international leaders who has most publicly criticised Israel over the war in Gaza, which began in October 2023 in response to an attack by the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, which has controlled the enclave since 2007.

The president of RTVE, Spain's public television and Eurovision partner, called for “peace and justice for Palestine” before the start of this year's festival, saying that “silence is not an option”.

The European Broadcasting Union (EBU), which organises the Eurovision Song Contest, warned RTVE that it would be fined if comments about the deaths resulting from the Israeli offensive in Gaza were repeated in the broadcast of the final.