Canary Parliament, Except Vox, Proposes Modifying the Anthem to Include La Graciosa

The political groups that make up the Parliament of the Canary Islands, with the sole exception of Vox, have filed a bill to amend Law 20/2003 of 28 April, which governs the official anthem of the archipelago.

The initiative, driven by Coalición Canaria, aims to explicitly recognize the eight islands of the Canary archipelago in the anthem’s lyrics.

Background

• Law 20/2003 established an official anthem and attached a lyric that accompanies Teobaldo Power’s “Arrorró de los Cantos Canarios.”
• The current stanza contains the line “Repartido en siete peñas” (“Divided into seven peaks”), reflecting the statutory wording of 2003, which described the archipelago as comprising seven islands.
• The 2018 reform of the Statute of Autonomy updated the territorial framework, recognizing La Graciosa as an island (administratively attached to Lanzarote).

Rationale

“The 2018 statutory amendment introduced a new reality that tells us there are eight islands. In line with this normative and social reality, it is appropriate to adjust the anthem’s legal text so that it explicitly reflects the existence of eight islands,” – statement from the signing parties.

The Nationalist Group’s note adds:

“The purpose of the bill is to align a high‑visibility official symbol with the current Statute of Autonomy, ensuring coherence between institutional emblems and acknowledging La Graciosa in the collective imagination projected by the anthem.”

Proposed Changes

• Technical and symbolic amendment only; the melody, protection regime, and usage rules of the anthem remain unchanged.
• The shield and flag of the Canary Islands are unaffected.
• The amendment consists of replacing the number “seven” with “eight” in the third verse, leaving the rest of the text intact.

Implications

• The literary integrity of the anthem is preserved; only the numeric reference is updated.
• No alteration to the musical score is required, avoiding any reopening of aesthetic or musical debates that were settled when Law 20/2003 was originally approved.

In summary, the proposal seeks a modest yet symbolically significant update to the Canary Islands anthem, ensuring that the official lyrics accurately reflect the eight islands recognized by the current autonomous statute.