The Nationalist Party of the Canary Islands (PNC) in Lanzarote proposes a referendum for Canarians to decide on replacing the current Anthem of the Canary Islands with the song "Ach Guañac", by the band Taburiente from La Palma. According to the party, this would allow bringing "the official world closer to popular sentiment."
The PNC believes that the Canary Islands needs an anthem that "better represents it." "We need a more passionate and fiery anthem, widely accepted by all sectors of the population of the eight islands of the Archipelago, something that the song "Ach Guañac" fulfills. The "Arrorró" is a subdued anthem and lacks reaching the sensitive fiber, and that is why it does not move Canarians," the PNC has stated through a statement.
The current Anthem of the Canary Islands, the "Arrorró", dates back to 2003. It is a variation of the Arrorró of the Canarian Songs, by Teobaldo Power, with the contribution of new lyrics that are owed to the musician Benito Cabrera.
The lyrics of the Arrorró begin like this:
"I am the shadow of an almond tree,
I am volcano, saltpeter and lava.
Divided into seven rocks
beats the pulse of my soul".
The PNC has assured that it "does not intend to question either the trajectory of Teobaldo Power or that of Benito Cabrera, much less the presence of the Arrorró in the musical tradition." However, it has assured that "it is evident" that the current Anthem of the Canary Islands "has not managed to penetrate the population, nor become popular, perhaps because Canarians do not quite identify with it."
On the contrary, according to the PNC, the song Ach Guañac, by the band Taburiente, has been part of the imagery of Canarians for "many years in any type of festive event, especially when it comes to celebrating common identity signs." "There is no stall in any corner of the Islands where the chords of the song Ach Guañac do not spontaneously sound, because it is, in fact, the popular Anthem of the Canary Islands," they have defended from this party.
The complete lyrics of Ach Guañac are:
"When dawn breaks, it awakens
all the waters of the Atlantic,
among its breasts there is a people
that was born free and today waits
to rebuild on the wound
the new era of the islands,
to remove the fences from the landscape
and see it free as before.
May the farmer sow his own bread
and the fisherman be able to work his nets.
A blue sea that shines
with seven green stars,
the yellow in your wheat fields
and the white in your breakers.
Bring back every brother
who is far away today for loving you,
unite us all to the future
so that together we may be free,
and in the places where there is thirst
re-green and give you wheat,
and on the paths we forge
see our children grow".
The PNC in Lanzarote has already contacted Luis Morera, from the band Taburiente, to ask for his opinion on this initiative. In addition, it could be considered that the same band Taburiente would create a version of their own song to adapt it to the new Anthem of the Canary Islands, if the referendum were favorable, "something that the PNC does not doubt."