The most Spanish holiday song is actually Belgian

The most Spanish holiday song is actually not Spanish but Belgian. We all know the world-famous song Eviva España, but did you know that that holiday song is not of Spanish origin at all? Yes, it is about sunny Spain, but originally the song was composed by the Belgian composer Leo Caerts and was recorded for the first time by a local Belgian Flemish singer Samantha in 1971.

In the original song, she sings about the fact that she went on holiday to Spain, that it was so much fun there that she wants to go back to Spain as soon as possible. It was a big hit in the Flemish-speaking part of Belgium. Not much later the Dutch singer Imca Marina made it a worldwide hit in other languages as well. Meanwhile, the song has been covered by dozens of other artists, also Spanish ones.

Worldwide there are now more than 400 different versions and more than 40 million copies have been sold. Samantha's first version made it to about 450,000 copies. Sometimes the title is changed to "Viva Espaná" or "Y Viva España", probably because "Eviva España" is not correct in Spanish. The word "Eviva" means nothing.

So the next time you're on holiday in Benidorm and singing along to the song, you can brag to your friends that you know where this Spanish sing-along originally comes from. Eviva Espana!

You can find the original version on YouTube here.