The Benidorm International Song Festival (), until 2004 simply Benidorm Song Festival (), was an annual song contest held in the city of Benidorm, Spain. The contest, based on the Italian Sanremo Music Festival, was created to promote Benidorm and Spanish music. It originally ran from 1959 to 2006 (except in 1979, 1984 and from 1986 to 1992, when it was not held) and used to take place in the summer. After 2006, it did not take place again through 2021, when a revamped version of the festival, under the name Benidorm Fest, was announced by Radiotelevisión Española (RTVE) and the Generalitat Valenciana to serve as the platform to select the for the Eurovision Song Contest, starting in 2022. The festival has undergone considerable modifications over the years, for example in the prizes. In 2004, it went from national to international. The contest was usually broadcast on television by REM (1959), TVE (1960–1985, 1997–2005), Telecinco (1993–1996) or Canal Nou (1997–2006). History In 1958, the idea of holding a Spanish summer song festival like what had been done in Sanremo, Italy, since 1951 (Sanremo Music Festival) came up. This event took place in the Benidorm kiosk El Tío Quico, where the mayor of the city, Pedro Zaragoza, the writer and journalist Carlos Villacorta, director of the press office of the General Secretariat of the Movement, and the journalist were present. In July 1959, the first edition of an event called the Festival Español de la Canción de Benidorm ("Spanish Song Festival of Benidorm") was held, organised by the (REM) (Movement Station Network) from the city's Manila Park. The mechanics of the festival during the first editions (from 1959 to 1971) consisted of presenting the songs in double versions, as was usual in the song festivals of the moment, including Sanremo. The victory of the song "Un telegrama" and its huge success in Spain at the time guaranteed the continuity of the festival in Benidorm, despite the fact that some cities in the south of Spain tried to take over the organisation of the festival. During this period, the greatest hits in the history of the festival took place, such as "Comunicando", "Quisiera ser", "Tu loca juventud", "La vida sigue igual" and "Amor amargo". It also featured the participation of emerging personalities of Spanish light song, such as Dúo Dinámico, Raphael, Bruno Lomas, Joe y Luis, Michel, Los Gritos and Julio Iglesias.