The creator of the global hit Macarena has criticised the White House after the song was used in a social media video showing footage from the war with Iran.
The video, shared by official White House accounts, featured images of the conflict set to the famous track by Spanish duo Los del Rio, prompting a wave of reactions online.
Antonio Romero, one half of the Sevilla group and co-author of the song, said he was shocked by the use of the music in that context.
‘It gives me goosebumps,’ he said in an interview with Canal Sur Television.
Romero stressed that the song was created with a completely different intention.
‘We made that song to bring joy to the world, not to destroy it,’ he said. ‘Why would they use something so cheerful and fun to spread images of war?’
He also highlighted the song’s deep cultural roots in Sevilla, saying its success is tied to the devotion surrounding the Virgin of Esperanza Macarena, one of the city’s most revered religious icons.
Despite his criticism, Romero acknowledged that the song’s global fame means people often use it however they wish.
‘What fault do we have if Macarena is the most popular song in the world and people use it for whatever they want?’ he said.
More than three decades after its release, the track remains one of the most recognisable songs ever recorded.
Macarena was first released in 1993 by Los del Rio – Antonio Romero Monge and Rafael Ruiz Perdigones – as part of the album A mí me gusta.
The rumba-flamenca track tells the story of a young woman who cheats on her boyfriend while he is away doing military service.
Originally titled Magdalena, the song was later renamed Macarena, a reference to the famous Sevilla neighbourhood.
The original version became a summer hit in Spain and Latin America before the 1995 Bayside Boys remix turned it into a global phenomenon, complete with English lyrics and dance instructions.
The song went on to sell millions of copies, topped charts around the world and was famously danced to at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics.
Even figures such as Pope John Paul II and former US president Bill Clinton were among those who encountered the unstoppable Macarena craze.
Read more Andalucia news at the Spanish Eye.
