Boos and hisses greeted the national anthem at Spain's football cup final between Catalans and Basques

Mestalla football stadium, Valencia
Spanish Cup final
May 13 2009

Could you contact me with details if there was any coverage or reports in media in other countries on the Spanish Cup Final and, in particular, on the colossal scale of the whistles and jeering when the Spanish National Anthem was played before the match started?

1. Sound track (COPE radio): http://www.cope.es/13-05-09,escuche-monumental-pitada-al-himno-nacional,28059--6--audios

2. TV3, Televisió de Catalunya (live coverage, 1m32s; "Xiulada monumental als borbons i a l'himne espanyol"): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DceqR8JDmY0



3. TVE-1 (live coverage, 25s; "TVE corta la señal con Mestalla cuando iba a sonar el himno de España en la final de la Copa del Rey entre el Barcelona y el Athletic de Bilbao"): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5iVW7MIIac



4. TVE-1 manipulated version (almost complete suppression of live sound), broadcast during half-time ("Final Copa del Rey (trampa de TVE1 en el himno de España)"): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbHOQiU4rXQ



5. La Sexta: Live coverage of Spanish national anthem, with amusing comments by "El follonero" on the whistling and booing: ("El himno en la Final de la Copa del Rey 2009", 1m7s): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rr4FwNAotaI



6. Cuatro's news report after the match. "miraquevideo" uploaded the following, with the solution he/she offers. "Polacos y Etarras pitan al himno de su propia nación, ESPAÑA. (Copa del Rey)" (3m18s: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CPaebiVbQ4c) "Esto es una muestra de lo gilipollas y fanáticas que pueden llegar a ser las personas humanas. Esto sólo pasa en este país porque no hay cojones de cogerlos de uno en uno y fusilarlos."



7. Very interesting combination of live commentaries by various radio stations as the Spanish national anthem was played (accompanying live TV coverage. Editor: "SangCuleCorCatalaTV": ("Athletic Club 1 - 4 FC Barcelona (Final copa del Rey)") http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EO9TPgcSNkc



8. Finally, there is a set of manipulated versions, uploaded to youtube.com by "afs167"! What he/she does is to use sound recordings of the Spanish national anthem made in other contexts, not live from the Mestalla stadium.

In several he/she uses TV images (the TVE logo can be seen) but the sound was recorded in the room where people were watching the match on TV. In one the background sound includes people singing "Viva España!" ("el himno desde la grada (sin censura)" - quins pebrots!) and "Pelota, se siente, España está presente!" ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HzQv8uS29xE ). In others the Spanish national anthem is sung by a whole crowd of people ("sonó el himno de España en la final de la copa del rey") ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1osggXl3KR4 ) - perhaps from an international football match - following a voice (that c ertainly can't be heard in the T live coverage from TV3!) announcing "El Himno Nacional de España" on the public address system- and with image filmed from the stand (mobile phones or people's cameras), but which clearly don't coincide with the music being heard on the recording.

In yet another ("copa del rey - así se escuchó el himno") http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QgcJNMhHghM it is perfectly obvious that people are rhythmically moving to a completely different sdound track!

The same manipulater put together more mobile phone images ("el himno de España en el Athletic de Bilbao - Barcelona"), http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zg3i1yrYr7o, but the editting was defective: the Spanish national anthem is partly repeated at the end!


Ladies and gentlemen: anyone with students wishing to do a little research into the manipulation of the media has plenty to work on.

So, once again, were there any reports in the media in other countries on this incident in the Spanish Cup Final?

Replies received:

1. UK
a. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/may/15/spanish-anthem-boo-tve-sacked

"Spain's state television network TVE has sacked its sports chief after the channel censored boos and hissing that greeted the national anthem at the country's football cup final..." "[At halftime]... it ran an edited version in which the anthem was amplified and cameras picked out a Basque fan clutching his heart."

b. http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/patrick_nathanson/blog/2009/05/14/barcelona_rediscover_their_perfect_football

"Even the Madrid-based papers begrudgingly shifted their focus from the controversial booing of the pre-match Spanish national anthem (by both sets of fans) to what Sir Alex Ferguson memorably described as Barca's "passing carousel"..."

c. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8050569.stm

"Spain's national television broadcaster has sacked its director of sports for censoring jeering during the national anthem before the national cup final. Julian Reyes chose to show reporters in Bilbao and Barcelona instead of the events at Valencia's Mestalla stadium, which King Juan Carlos was attending..."

2. France

a. http://www.france24.com/fr/20090514-football-espagne-fc-barcelone-remporte-coupe-roi-bilbao-barca

"L'hymne espagnol, en présence du couple royal, a été sifflé par de nombreux supporteurs"

b. http://www.rtl.fr/fiche/4934871/football-scandale-en-espagne-apres-l-hymne-siffle-videos.html

"L'hymne espagnol a ... été copieusement sifflé (de même que l'arrivée du roi Juan Carlos et de la reine Sofia dans les tribunes) par les supporters catalans et basques présents au stade Mestalla. TVE, la chaîne de télévision qui retransmettait la finale, n'a pas diffusé ces images en direct, déclenchant une vive polémique."

[ + videos ], incl.

"Les 55.000 supporters catalans et basques présents lors de la finale de la Coupe du Roi ont conspué l'hymne espagnol": http://media.rtl.fr/online/sound/2009/0515/4935220_Les-55-000-supporters-catalans-et-basques-presents-lors-de-la-finale-de-la-Coupe-du-Roi-ont-conspue-l-hymne-espagnol-et-le-couple-royal.mp3

3. Suisse

http://www.lematin.ch/flash-info/medias/coupe-espagne-polemique-hymne-siffle-diffuse-tele

"L'entrée du roi d'Espagne Juan Carlos et de la reine Sofia a été copieusement sifflée, de même que l'hymne national qui a immédiatement suivi, par des supporteurs des clubs de ces villes situées dans deux régions d'Espagne où les velléités nationalistes sont les plus fortes, la Catalogne (nord-est) pour Barcelone et le Pays Basque (nord) pour Bilbao...."

4. Italia

http://archiviostorico.corriere.it/2009/maggio/15/Censuro_fischi_all_inno_via_co_9_090515038.shtml
"Alle 20.45 di ieri sera ... la prima rete pubblica spagnola ha fatto ammenda, piena e incondizionata, e ha offerto su un vassoio la testa del capo della sezione sportiva, responsabile di un errore qualificato dall' annunciatrice di straordinaria «gravità»: non aver trasmesso in diretta e integralmente, la notte prima, l'inno nazionale spagnolo, o quel poco che se ne poteva sentire alla tivù, sotto la raffica di fischi della tifoseria basca e catalana..."