Spain's national anthem will ring out on Tuesday before the World Cup semifinal against France, and nobody will sing along. The Spain national anthem, known as the Marcha Real, has no words, so the pre-match ritual will again be silent.
Paulino Cubero and 2007
The last serious effort to change that came in 2007, when the Spanish Olympic Committee set up a competition for lyrics. Paulino Cubero of Ciudad Real won and wrote a text for Plácido Domingo to sing, and Domingo rehearsed it.
But the lyrics never reached Spain's Congress for approval. Vocal groups from around Spain opposed the proposal, and the criticism was broad enough that the organizers abandoned the idea.
Marcha Real before 2026
The tune itself goes back much further. It appeared first in 1761 in a book of Military Marches of the Spanish Infantry as the Marcha de Granaderos, also called the March of the Grenadiers, and Charles III made it a March of Honor in 1770.
Bartolomé Pérez Casas adapted the tune in 1908, giving Spain the version that survives today. A first major lyrics drive had already failed in 1870 after General Prim prompted a contest for musicians and poets, and no winner emerged.
Spain is not alone in having an anthem without lyrics; Bosnia Herzegovina, San Marino and Kosovo are also listed among countries with wordless anthems. For Spain, that means Tuesday's semifinal will bring the anthem back onto a global stage exactly as it has long been: recognizable, solemn and unsung.
