Y Viva España

Remember the search for lyrics for the Spanish national anthem – “La Marcha Real” (the royal march). I spoke about it on 4 October last year (“All Together Now”). The Spanish Olympic Committee has now got some and they are to present a petition (assuming there is enough backing) for parliamentary support. All well and good you might think. You would be wrong.

The chosen lyrics include the line “viva España” (long live Spain) and a reference to “the fatherland”. If the “viva España” line had been combined with lyrics such as “kiss señoritas by the score”, then there might not be a problem. But they are not. The inclusion of the “fatherland” is something else. Not for one moment do I believe that the Olympic Committee sees anything amiss in the reference. It is doubtless meant with the best intention, but it is the potential interpretation that creates an issue.

Other anthems have their fatherlands. The Dutch, the French; the Germans still have one. The origin of the usage is essentially patriotic and romantic. In each of these three cases, it is an allusion to the homeland. But in the case of the German anthem, “Vaterland” became synonymous with something dark. The fatherland of the Nazis may also have been patriotic and romantic, but Hitler’s patriotism and romanticism were at the expense of humanity.

It is the shadow of fascism that casts itself over the word. For the Nazis, read also the Falange, the nationalists and Franco. The lyrics of the anthem during Franco’s time had their own reference to the fatherland as well as the words “viva España”. It is these echoes that create the issue.

The Spanish left is not amused. Yet, insensitive though the choice of words might appear to the left, would they really impact on the vast majority of Spaniards? When for instance the British are singing “God Save The Queen”, they are doing just that – singing. They are not analysing the meaning of the words. By making a fuss, the left is creating a controversy that might otherwise not have arisen. If the Mexicans, with their historical and linguistic links with Spain, can have a “fatherland” (which they do), then what’s good for them is surely also ok for the Spaniards.

Choosing new lyrics for the anthem was never going to be easy. The lyrics have to reflect a national unity, and that is also not easy given regional interests that run counter to such unity. It is perhaps unfortunate that the anthem debate has cropped up so shortly after the navel-gazing that occurred in respect of the martyrdom of clergy who had supported the nationalists during the Civil War.

Perhaps it might just be best to let the footballers and other sportspeople carry on humming along to the anthem’s tune.


QUIZ
Yesterday – “The Pushbike Song”, The Mixtures (Mungo Jerry did cover the song). Today’s title – had to be really, didn’t it. Who sang this and which country was she from? (She wasn’t Spanish).

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