RTVE saves the mess in the final of the Benidorm Fest but is far from the audiences of the 'chanelazo'

After two disastrous semifinals in the audience,

has managed to save the mess with the Benidorm Fest.

An average of 1,887,000 viewers attended the proclamation of Blanca Paloma as the representative of Spain in Eurovision this Sunday, a 14.7% share.

The program falls 6.3 points compared to last year, but marks 22.6% among viewers between 25 and 44 years old, a good figure for a public television that seeks to rejuvenate its audience.

This Saturday's program was the leader in its broadcast slot.

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Blanca Paloma will challenge the flamenco curse at Eurovision

• Drafting: SARA POLOBenidorm

Blanca Paloma will challenge the flamenco curse at Eurovision

Opinion.

Blanca Paloma, renewed 'Spain brand' for Eurovision

• Writing: EDUARDO ÁLVAREZ

Blanca Paloma, renewed 'Spain brand' for Eurovision

The absence of controversy, with a decision that has achieved the agreement of the critics and the public, has reduced the interest of the least

.

Everything is seasoned by what experts call "the Tanxugueiras effect".

"Last year there was a motivation to vote, but seeing that the popular support was useless, people have disengaged," says Tony San José, from OGAE Spain, the delegation of the international fan club of the Eurovision Song Contest.

However, internationally there has been a great following.

Sanjay Jiandani, head of international relations at

, has been working fully on Eurovision for more than 23 years.

He is one of the leading international experts on the festival, in direct contact with all the delegations, and has received dozens of positive messages this Sunday.

"The proposal is very original, it is something authentic Spanish and a very beautiful staging that transmits Spanish culture with a lot of class," he says, "in Europe they are very surprised, because this has never been taken to Eurovision before."

According to Jiandani, it is good to take the risk with a proposal outside the norm: "There is no exact formula," he says.

Spain would be, according to the predictions of the bookmakers collected by Eurovision World, in 12th place in Liverpool, four below what they indicated a few days ago.

However, Jiandani asks for prudence: "The 30 songs have not yet come out and all the predictions change after the first rehearsals. Today is not indicative of what could happen."

The effect of the Benidorm Fest, beyond the small screen

There is a curious phenomenon in the

press conferences , which perhaps also only occurs in sporting contexts: the press applauds and cheers for some responses.

Not all are journalists, they are fans.

Along with the editors of traditional media, the bulk of the accredited delegation corresponds to specialized eurofan media

as Jiandani, and this year the public-private foundation Visit Benidorm has seen in them the opportunity to take the festival beyond the small screen .

For this reason, it has accredited 15 media outlets outside of Spain.

Not surprisingly, the festival is the conjunction of three initiatives.

The infrastructure of national public television is joined by the investment of the

, which this year has increased the budget to 1.5 million, given the good result of 2021, when an investment of one million euros reverted to more than 13 tourism promotion.

The

also contributes one million euros from the public treasury, in addition to the infrastructures.

, manager of

, explains

that the 85% average occupancy this weekend, which rises to 95% in four-star hotels, is not normal at this time of year.

"We are boosting actions during the offseason to get back to the pre-pandemic starting box," she says.

The prolonged waves of Covid have had a particularly negative impact on a city that lives 100% on tourism.

"We are the third city in terms of overnight stays on the Iberian Peninsula. The first is Barcelona, ​​the second is Madrid, and suddenly we are there, a town of 70,000 people," he stresses, "and we have been working for a few years to position winter with congresses, sporting events, the

... In the end, what we are looking for is to increase that average occupancy, but also the purchasing profile of those who visit us, we are looking not for more customers but for those who choose us to generate more quality business to seek sustainability superior social and economic".

"They can now start combing fringes in Europe"

Six days of

bubble end in the city of skyscrapers with palms.

Tourists of all ages crowd the viewpoint of the Benidorm Castle waiting for

to arrive .

"Pretty!" she bellows to herself as she comes out to say hello.

"When they asked me who I thought should represent Spain in Eurovision, I answered: the one who is most prepared," she confessed to the press.

She already warned herself days before that she was.

His dream was to make a song that could be sung, here and abroad, and now he dreams of "opening the balcony to Europe and transmitting all that emotion to them".

"I am so convinced of what we have done that the result is not going to be decisive for me," she says.

"I want to set the bar as high as possible, but look at Remedios, what an injustice...", she laments, referring to

, when she brought flamenco to Münich in 1983 and came penultimate.

Now

will try to break that curse: "Hopefully the tables will turn. They can now start learning how to comb fringes in Europe."

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