The audience of Benidorm Fest final shoots up to almost 3 million viewers

The final of Benidorm Fest broke an audience record last night. Nearly three million viewers followed the gala from start to finish on TVE's La 1 and experienced live the event that crowned Chanel as the next representative of Spain at the Eurovision Song Contest to be held in Turin in May. In addition, several million more connected at some point with the broadcast of a final that became the most watched program of the day in all of Spain with a screen share of 21%.

A final that was experienced intensely at Palau d'Esports l'Illa de Benidorm and was attended, among other authorities, by the mayor, Toni Pérez; the president of the Generalitat Valenciana, Ximo Puig; and the president of RTVE, José Manuel Pérez Tornero, as the highest representatives of the three organizing entities of the festival.

The broadcast of the final was also intense in the city, especially on the screens set up by the City Council on Levante beach and where numerous 'eurofans' gathered to enjoy every minute of the gala starring Rayden, Tanxungueiras, Varry Brava, Chanel, Rigoberta Bandini, Xeinn, Gonzalo Hermida and Blanca Paloma.

But in addition to the impact on television, Benidorm Fest was once again a phenomenon on social networks. As was the case with the two semifinals, last night's gala generated an avalanche of comments on social networks, with 614,000 tweets on Twitter, where #BenidormFest was also a 'trending topic' worldwide and also in 13 countries: Spain, Chile, Panama, Sweden, Norway, Switzerland, United Kingdom, Mexico, Argentina, the Netherlands, Portugal, Germany and Italy. The potential reach has reached 385 million users on social networks, thus confirming the expectation that the Benidorm Fest has aroused among the population as a whole.

The brand new winner of Benidorm Fest has travelled today to El Castell de Benidorm to, with the city in the background, pose before the media with the bronze microphone that accredits her as the representative of Spain in Eurovision.

At the end of the meeting with the media, Chanel shared a few moments with the mayor, who congratulated the artist on her triumph and wished her the best of luck for the Turin event, which she arrives with her theme 'SloMo'.

Toni Pérez has made an "extremely positive" balance of Benidorm Fest, "an event that over the last few weeks has placed the city in the focus of musical activity, achieving for Benidorm an unbeatable repercussion, promotion and projection also to international level".

The mayor has highlighted "the high musical level of the artists who have passed through the festival, which we will continue to hear about"; while he has valued "the incessant work done so that this festival has become a benchmark on which many of the countries with which Spain will face Eurovision in May have turned their eyes and all their attention". Likewise, he has been convinced that "Benidorm Fest has come to stay".