Himno de Riego

El Himno de Riego is a song dating from the Spanish Civil War of 1820-1823 and named in honour of Colonel Rafael del Riego. It was the national anthem of Spain during the Trienio Liberal and the First and Second Spanish Republics (1931-1939).

Trivia

At the Davis Cup tennis finals held in Australia in 2003 "El Himno de Riego" was played in error instead of Spain's current national anthem, the Marcha Real (or "Royal March"). The mistake provoked a row between Spanish and Australian tennis officials, although this only had to do with accusations of incompetence. One side-effect of the incident was that it brought this rather joyful tune (which had been banned under the Franco régime) to the attention of at least two generations of Spaniards who had not heard it a lot before.

Original lyrics

atirical lyrics

This alternative version was extremely popular amongst Spaniards, particularly in Catalonia (part of it is in Catalan), during the Spanish Civil War. The rudeness of the lyrics reflects the dislike of Republican Spain for the church and the monarchy. After the war, these lyrics continued to be sung, by Franco's detractors and enemies. Such was the popularity of these lyrics that even today many people, particularly younger ones, think they are in fact the official ones.

External links

* [http://www.izqrepublicana.es/documentacion/himnoderiego4.mp3 MP3 file]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/tennis/3245678.stm The Davis Cup incident]