After King Felipe swears before parliament on Thursday to “safeguard the constitution”, the Spanish national anthem will be played. But no one will be singing along because the Marcha Real has no official lyrics. Spain’s Olympic Committee revealed proposed new words for the anthem in January 2008 after holding a contest that lured 7,000 entries. But the lyrics, which included the phrase “Viva Espana” sparked fierce criticism, especially from the left, and had to be scrapped.