Spain’s Eurovision song contest entry will be performed in English

For the first time in the competition’s 55-year history, Spain’s song will be almost entirely in English.

Barei’s Say Yay features just 19 words sung in Spanish, which were only added after pressure from Spain’s public broadcaster TVE.

“We were told to add something in Spanish,” said Barei, 32.

“I’ve got nothing against our language, but my plan was to sing in English – it is much more international than Spanish.”

Say Yay went to number one on Spain’s iTunes charts when it was released on January 25.