261 years and not a word? Spain holds a strange world record. But the Spanish are not alone in not having lyrics for their national anthem, La Marcha Real or “The Royal March” in English. Perhaps the anthem will be played again following the finals of this year’s world cup in Qatar?
Four countries in the world, all curiously enough in Europe, lack lyrics for their national anthems: Kosovo, Bosnia-Herzegovina, San Marino and Spain.
Kosovo and Bosnia-Herzegovina – these are states many of us still struggle to place on a map. Former Yugoslavia, yes, but where exactly are the borders? Both states apparently have better excuses than Spain for missing texts to their national anthems. Bosnia and Herzegovina declared independence from Yugoslavia in 1992 and fought a bloody war during the following three years. Kosovo only became an independent state in 2008. The two countries have hardly had time to write lyrics.
San Marino, on the other hand, got the melody they call the national anthem as early as 1894. The roughly 33,000 inhabitants of this small state, which spans 61 square kilometers, have for some reason not been able to come up with the needed lines in all these years. But, when was the last time you heard San Marino’s national anthem at the Olympics? Or any other international sporting event for that matter? In any case, it is not due to a lack of money in San Marino, which is among the world’s richest states measured in gross domestic product per inhabitant.
But none of the countries mentioned above come close to having had a wordless national anthem for as long a time as Spain which has one of the world’s oldest national anthems. The notes for La Marcha Real were recorded as early as 1761. In 1770, “The Royal March” became the official national anthem. The Spanish compete with the British, the Japanese and the Dutch for the world’s oldest national anthem.
The oldest national anthem?
The question of which country has the oldest national anthem is not as simple as you might think: for example, no one knows exactly when Britain’s “God Save the Queen” was written. And is a finished text or just a melody enough to establish a year for when the song was “official”? Take Japan for example, the melody here is not that old, it was fully composed in 1880. The text, on the other hand, is taken from a poem which is believed to date from the mid-8th century.
The national anthem of the Netherlands is sometimes mentioned as the world’s oldest. It has indeed had both text and melody for 444 years, since 1574. The problem is that there was nothing to unite the Netherlands at that time. The song was written as a tribute to the royal house of Oranien-Nassau.
From Franco to Sánchez: Texts stir emotions
Over the years, there has been no shortage of suggested lyrics. All of them have two things in common: They have caused a stir and have been put aside. After reading the latest proposal, presented by singer and superstar Marta Sánchez only a few years ago, perhaps it is just as well that La Marcha Real remains without words. But more on that later.
In the 1920s, Spanish dictator Miguel Primo de Rivera commissioned a text for the national anthem. One that would be to his liking. He tasked the poet José María Pemán to compose a text which, when finished, read something like: “Long live Spain! Forward to the front, children of the Spanish people,” etc. Perhaps not great poetry, but then again, the text never became official. However, that did not stop General Franco from trying to revive the version in both 1942 and 1950. He also wanted Pemán’s “Forward to the Front” replaced with a reference to a fascist salute. That did not make it easier for all Spaniards to gather around it.
After Franco’s death in 1975, Spain has had a strained relationship with national symbols – precisely because he tried to exploit them to create legitimacy for his dictatorship. The authorities in democratic Spain have failed to put forward new proposals for the text of La Marcha Real. In 2007 the Spanish Olympic Committee stepped in when a competition to write new lines to the national anthem was announced. A total of 7,000 proposals were received.
The winning text was written by Paulino Cubero, an unemployed 52-year-old from Madrid. The words “Long live Spain! We sing together, with different voices and one heart” made an impression on the National Olympic Committee who now envisioned that Spanish athletes could finally have words to sing to when receiving their well deserved medals.
Paulino Cubero’s proposal for the text of the national anthem.
But it was not to be – this time either. A few days after publicizing the winning proposal, the lyrics were withdrawn by the Spanish Olympic Committee. The text was criticized everywhere. It was called banal, and worst of all: It reminded people of the Franco version. It also became clear that it would not be approved by the National Assembly in Madrid.
Later, there have been scattered attempts at text writing. In recent years, popular singers have thrown themselves into the “battle for the national anthem lyrics”. Singers Joaquín Sabina and Leonardo Dantés have been among those who have tried – also unsuccessfully. In February, a few years ago – in the middle of the bitter dispute between state authorities in Catalonia and the central government in Madrid – superstar Marta Sánchez chose to perform her text proposal during a concert.
Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy was quick on Twitter and congratulated the singer on “a very good initiative”. But, only a few hours later on social media were “blowing up”. Far from everyone agreed with the prime minister. Marta Sánchez’s text was called “opportunistic” and things far less flattering than that.
What is Marta Sánchez’s text really like? Here are a couple of quotes, roughly translated: “I returned home to my beloved country, which saw the birth of my heart.” And: “Today I sing to tell you how much pride I have in me. My love grows every time I go my way, but I don’t forget that without you I don’t know how to live. Red, yellow colors that shine in my heart.” Perhaps it is just as well that La Marcha Real remains wordless a while longer.
Does Spain really want a text? One could imagine that it is a bit awkward to stand there, for example during sports events, without something to sing. The Spanish have a solution, of course. Sometimes people just sing “na-na-na…” at the top of their lungs when the national anthem is played. It works surprisingly well at a football event anyways. Here you can listen to the national anthem, La Marcha Real.
There are some advantages to a national anthem without lyrics – apart from the fact that it does not divide the population: Spaniards never have to fear that they have forgotten words or verses in the national anthem. And: no matter how bad your Spanish is, you can always sing along to La Marcha Real! And, hopefully the anthem will be played following the finals of this year’s world cup as well!
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