Madrid: New lyrics proposed for Spain's national anthem ''stink'', according to a prominent politician, and the country's athletes may have to keep singing ''la la la'' for a while longer in the winner's circle.
Spain's national anthem, the ''Royal March', has been played without words since 1978, when previous lyrics approved by right-wing dictator Francisco Franco were ditched.
Ever since, Spanish athletes have admitted to jealousy of foreign opponents with words to sing at sporting events. Some have even resorted to chanting ''la la la''.
But new lyrics unveiled yesterday, which were selected in a competition organised by the Spanish Olympic Committee, were derided by members of parliament, who will have the final say on whether they become official.
''They stink,'' said Gaspar Llamazares, leader of the small left-wing United Left party, who said they reminded him of the Franco era, when Spanish national symbols such as the flag became associated with the political right.
The proposed anthem, which if approved would be played at state as well as sporting events, avoids references to controversial areas such as religion and intones mildly about Spain, ''from its green valleys to the immense sea''.
But its first words, ''Long Live Spain!'', have an authoritarian ring for many on the left and are unlikely to appeal to separatists in the Basque Country and Catalonia.
The spokesman in the Spanish parliament for Catalan separatist party Esquerra, Joan Tarda, said he did not want to comment on the proposal, but that it was reasonable for the Spanish nation to have an anthem with words.
''Just as our nation, Catalonia, has an anthem,'' Tarda said, referring to the Catalan hymn 'Els Segadors', which calls for Spanish invaders to be given ''a good blow with the sickle''.
Not even the political right showed much enthusiasm for the words, with the leader of the opposition Popular Party, Mariano Rajoy, preferring not to give his opinion on them.
The idea for a lyrics competition came to Olympic Committee Chairman Alejandro Blanco after hearing Liverpool soccer fans bellow out ''You'll Never Walk Alone'' at Anfield stadium. He wanted the words to be kept secret for another week, when they would have been sung in public by Spanish opera star Placido Domingo, but they were leaked to a newspaper.
Their author turned out to be Paulino Cubera, an unemployed 52-year-old man from La Mancha, who described himself as ''a loser'' at a news conference in Madrid.
''I wanted to write an anthem for normal people, people who take the metro on their way to work,'' Cubero said.
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