MADRID, Spain—An old quirk of Spanish history -- a national anthem with no lyrics -- took a step toward oblivion Friday as words were proposed to accompany it.
But critics immediately complained that they reflect a nationalist past, not today's rich patchwork of languages and cultures.
The lyrics start off with nothing less than "Viva Espana!" -- essentially the rallying cry of the late Gen. Francisco Franco's dictatorship.
They also call on Spaniards to "love the fatherland," which to outsiders may sound innocent enough, but for many people here also smack of Franco's obsession with Spain as a unitary state fending off the independence-minded zeal of regions like Catalonia and the Basque country.
"With lyrics like this, I don't think you will see me singing it very often," said Artur Mas, leader of a conservative Catalan nationalist party.
The current anthem is a military march that dates back to 1761, its author unknown.
In June 2007, the Spanish Olympic Committee came up with the idea of seeking suggestions for lyrics. Many in Spain said this would be virtually impossible in a country with regions that boast their own language and culture and bristle at the idea of a single national identity.
The proposed lyrics do address this plurality, however, saying: "Let us all sing together, with different voices and one heart."
The Spanish lyrics, chosen by the committee as the best among 7,000 entries, were written by Paulino Cubero, a 52-year-old resident of Madrid who is an amateur composer. At a news conference, Cubero said he wrote them for everyday Spanish people and did not mean to be divisive.
"These are lyrics for everybody, even for those who do not want an anthem," Cubero said.
Spaniards share the distinction of having a wordless anthem with a handful of countries, including Bosnia-Herzegovina, whose anthem was written in 1985, and tiny San Marino.
The idea now is to collect at least 500,000 signatures and take the lyrics to parliament to seek formal approval, launching what promises to be a long and thorny process. Parliament is now dormant before general elections in March, so a decision is a long way off.
The anthem with the proposed lyrics will be performed publicly for the first time by tenor Placido Domingo on Jan. 21 at an Olympic Committee dinner in Madrid.
Carmen Calvo, former culture minister in the current Socialist government, said she hated the lyrics as soon as she read them in the newspaper, saying they conjure up Spain's dictatorial past.
"Let the record show that I do not think these lyrics identify us with the 21st century, a modern society in the heart of Europe," Calvo said.
