Antoni Gutiérrez-Rubí on the Spanish National anthem

In order to add words to the Spanish national anthem, the Spanish Olympic Commitee (COE) carried out a public survey. The publication of the resulting song last weekend has triggered a lively debate, some resenting the nationalist character of the song. Antoni Gutierrez-Rubi, a communications advisor, notes that, contrary to other European countries "national sentiment is not unanimous in Spain, there are those who believe Spain is a nation and those who refuse to accept that it is a nation or that they belong to it. An anthem with words is putting an end to a free space, exquisite and useful, an end to our diversity. To listen to the wordless national anthem in silence allows a better reception of the diversity of feelings provoked by the word 'Spain' among citizens. ... Let everyone feel what they like. The song will not make 'Spain' any more Spanish."

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