Mi querida España

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"Mi querida España" ("My Dearest Spain" or "My Lovely Spain") is a song. It was written and sung by the Spanish songwriter Cecilia in 1975. It was included on her album Un ramito de violetas (A bouquet of violets). This song was considered a protest song in the last years of Francisco Franco's dictatorship because of its lyrics.[1]

Description[change | change source]

"Mi querida España" was a hit in the 1970s and became a part of Spanish music history.[2] It has become a national symbol.[3]

The lyrics include social criticism toward the Franco government.[1] Some sentences were considered controversial by the government authorities in those years. For example, where Cecilia sung:[4]

Spanish Esta España viva, esta España muerta
English This living Spain, this dead Spain

this was changed by the censors to this version:

Spanish Esta España mía, esta España nuestra
English This Spain of mine, this Spain of ours

Music video[change | change source]

The music video was filmed in Retiro Park, Madrid by Enrique Martí Maqueda, TVE's producer in those times, for the 1975 OTI Festival.

Other versions[change | change source]

In 1987, the Spanish band La Década Prodigiosa released a cover of the song.[5]

In 1996 (twenty years after Cecilia's death) it was published in a tribute album titled: Desde que tú te has ido (Since you are gone). Several artists sang her singles in memory of Cecilia. Miguel Bosé recorded this song.[source?]

In 2015 "Mi querida España" was performed by Kiko Veneno and Rozalen for the soundtrack of the Spanish movie Perdiendo el norte.[6]

References[change | change source]

  1. 1.0 1.1 Cecilia: la vieja muñeca de una poeta 13 October 2012 (Spanish)
  2. "Cecilia" (in Spanish). Julián Molero, Lafonoteca. 28 December 2009. Retrieved 10 June 2015.
  3. "'Equilibrista', la primera biografía sobre la cantante Cecilia" (in Spanish). 20minutos. 19 December 2011. Retrieved 10 June 2015.
  4. "Cecilia derriba 35 años después la censura de la "España muerta"" (in Spanish). Jesús Miguel Marcos, Diario Público. 17 October 2011. Retrieved 10 June 2015.
  5. "Ficha de Catálogo" (in Spanish). Biblioteca Nacional de España. Retrieved 10 June 2015.
  6. "'Perdiendo el Norte' más de millón y medio en la taquilla española" (in Spanish). Europa Press. 24 March 2015. Retrieved 10 June 2015.

Other websites[change | change source]