The Spanish participating broadcaster, Radiotelevisión Española (RTVE), organised the national final Objetivo Eurovisión in order to select its entry for the contest.

They have also finished second four times, with "En un mundo nuevo" by Karina in 1971, "Eres tú" by Mocedades in 1973, "Su canción" by Betty Missiego in 1979, and "Vuelve conmigo" by Anabel Conde in 1995.

For their 2016 entry, the broadcaster announced on 18 December 2015 that it would organise a national final similar in format to the one used previously in 2014, which featured a competition among several artists and songs.

[13] 30-second clips of the competing songs were previewed by RTVE on their official website on 19 January 2016, while the songs in their entirety were premiered a day later on 20 January on a special webcast show, presented by Irene Mahía and with three of the candidates (Electric Nana, Maverick and Salvador Beltrán) as guests, that was also broadcast on RTVE's official website.

The running order for the six participating entries was determined during a press conference held at Prado del Rey in Pozuelo de Alarcón (Madrid) on 28 January 2016.

[29] On 3 April, she performed during the Eurovision Pre-Party in Moscow, Russia, held at the Izvestyia Hall and hosted by Dmitry Guberniev.

[30][31] On 9 April, Barei performed during the Eurovision in Concert event which was held at the Melkweg venue in Amsterdam, Netherlands and hosted by Cornald Maas and Hera Björk.

[38] On 28 April, a farewell party was held for Barei before she travelled to Stockholm for the contest, which took place at the Swedish Embassy in Madrid, hosted by Ambassador Cecilia Julin.

[39] On 29 April, she performed during a Spanish Eurovision party, which took place at the Palacio de la Prensa in Madrid, hosted by Julia Varela.

[42] RTVE appointed Jota Abril as its spokesperson to announce during the final the top 12-point score awarded by the Spanish jury.

[45] During the opening ceremony festivities that took place on 8 May, Barei took part in a draw to determine in which half of the final the Spanish entry would be performed.

During the performance, Barei fell down; the incorporation of the move was explained by the singer during a press conference: "We thought about it when recording the music video, like I'm talking about failure and not throwing the towel.

[23][51] The five backing vocalists that joined Barei were Rebeca Rods, Milena Brody, Alana Sinkëy, Awinnie MyBaby and Brequette.

[52][53] Voting during the three shows was conducted under a new system that involved each country now awarding two sets of points from 1-8, 10 and 12: one from their professional jury and the other from televoting.

Each participating broadcaster assembles a five-member jury panel consisting of music industry professionals who are citizens of the country they represent, with their names published before the contest to ensure transparency.

This jury judged each entry based on: vocal capacity; the stage performance; the song's composition and originality; and the overall impression by the act.