Asturias, patria querida

Asturias, patria querida ([asˈtuɾjas ˈpatɾja keˈɾiða], Asturian: Asturies, patria querida) is the official anthem of the autonomous community of Asturias, in Spain.

This adaptation of a much slower song from the neighbouring lands of Cantabria (Madre, cuando voy a leña) was appointed as official anthem after a contest in Oviedo in the 1890s. It has both a Castilian (Spanish) and an Asturian version. It is also a popular melody for bagpipers.

It has been recently discovered that this song was written in Cuba. The father of the author had returned to his beloved Asturias to die, the author—Ignacio Piñeiro—dedicated the song to his father. The music was different, it is believed to be a melody that Upper Silesian miners from the area of Opole Silesia—that worked in Asturian coal mines at the beginning of the 20th century—had brought to Asturias. In fact, the song is still known in Poland, where it was taught as a patriotic song.

A few versions of the anthem were created by the Republican side of the Spanish Civil War, therefore the anthem was seen as a miners song (it is said the miners' revolt in Asturias in 1934 was a wake-up call to the civil war) and as a left-wing song by the right-wing people.