The Spanish anthem, La Marcha Real, lacks lyrics. But in España of Laibach takes for the lyrics of the song on the one hand verses from the version that Eduardo Marquina wrote in 1926 for the newspaper ABC, and for the other hand the version by José María Pemán written in 1928 on behalf of the dictator Miguel Primo de Rivera, which became popular in times of the Civil War and the Franco regime.
Laibach's song España adapts and combines the two historical hymns that Spain has had throughout its history. One of those hymns is the Marcha Real, one of the oldest hymns in the world that was adopted in 1770 and is currently the official anthem of Spain. The other hymn is the Himno de Riego, named after Colonel Rafael del Riego and was the official anthem of Spain during the Liberal Triennium (1820-1823) and the First Republic (1873-1874) and the Second Republic (1931-1939).