Spain’s national anthem is rather unusual for one particular reason (Picture: Getty)
Spain are used to reaching the business end at major international football tournaments.
Which means that their national anthem has been played countless times before games on the big stage over the years.
And as such, it will have been noted by many that Spain’s players do not sing along during the rendition, in contrast to some of the emotional displays that will be witnessed by other teams at Euro 2024.
Quite simply, this is because the anthem does not have any official words it it. But why?
Why doesn’t Spain’s national anthem have any words?
Spain’s national anthem, ‘La Marcha Real’, originally started out as a military march for the Spanish infantry.
Spanish players will remain silent during their anthem (Picture: Getty)
Produced by composer Manuel de Espinosa de los Monteros in 1761, it became a state anthem in 1770 before being adopted as the official national anthem during the reign of Queen Isabella II between 1833-1868.
Words were then added by General Franco during his rule as dictator in the 20th century.
But when Franco was disposed from power, the words were then removed from the song given the obvious association with the dictator.
Other such lyrics have since been considered and proposed along the years but the country has been unable to settle on any official lyrics.
Euro 2024
The Spanish Olympic Committee in particular tried to add lyrics to the anthem in 2008, but they were widely criticised for their suggestion to include ‘Viva Espana’ in the opening line, a phase which has been widely associated with Franco’s brutal dictatorship.
As such, Spain’s national anthem is one of four in the world, alongside Bosnia Herzegovina, Kosovo and San Marino, to not have any words in it.
However, this doesn’t stop some Spanish fans singing unofficial lyrics to the anthem in the stands before games.
The current version of ‘Marcha Real’ has three official varieties; for orchestra, military band and organ.