Today the 6th of April marks the 40th anniversary of the 1st Spanish victory at the Eurovision Song Contest. Exactly 40 years ago Massiel won the 13th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest with her song La La La just 1 point ahead of Cliff Richard's Congratulations which represented the United Kingdom.

The 1968 Eurovision Song Contest was held at the Royal Albert Hall in London where a total of 17 countries competed. The event was televised in black and white in Spain while it was telecast in colour in Norway, Germany, France, Switzerland, Sweden, Finland and the Netherlands for the very first time. British presenter Katie Boyle had the honour of presenting the event for the 3rd time on British soil, as she also hosted the contest back in 1960 and 1963. The winning song La La La was composed by the famous Spanish duo EL Dúo Dinámico. Massiel wore an outfit by French designer Courreges. The 1968 Eurovision Song Contest will be remembered also for its voting as the United Kingdom was leading all the way until the very end when Spain caught up and won with only 1 point ahead.

Massiel and her song La La La have gone down in Spanish history as the first Spanish winner of the Eurovision Song Contest. Even today whenever anyone mentions the Eurovision Song Contest in Spain everyone relates it to La La La.

Massiel was already a well-known figure in Spain before her Eurovision victory, she was given a massive welcome on her return from London. Today Massiel is considered among Spain's most stablished and respected artists having enjoyed a successful career. You can watch Massiel's Eurovision performance in London which gave Spain its very first victory at the contest below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PttitB620fM