"¡Ay Carmela!" is one of the most famous songs of the Spanish Republican troops during the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

. It had originally been a nineteenth century folk song, ''El Paso del Ebro'', commemorating the routing of Napoleonic troops across the

river Ebro The Ebro (Spanish and Basque ; , , ) is a river of the north and northeast of the Iberian Peninsula, in Spain. It rises in Cantabria and flows , almost entirely in an boxing the compass, east-southeast direction. It flows into the Mediterranean ...

in 1807, during the

War of Independence Wars of national liberation, also called wars of independence or wars of liberation, are conflicts fought by nations to gain independence. The term is used in conjunction with wars against foreign powers (or at least those perceived as foreign) ...

. During the Spanish Civil War, in common with many older folk songs, the melody was reused with new lyrics by the Republican side, in various versions (''El Ejército del Ebro'', ''El paso del Ebro'', ''¡Ay, Carmela!'', ''¡Ay, Manuela!'', ''Rumba la Rumba,'' and ''Viva la XV Brigada''). A less well-known version was also coined by Nationalists (''El Rîo del Nervión'').

Variants

The most popular lyrics to this Republican song have two variants known as El Paso del Ebro and Viva la XV Brigada. The first one is related to the

Battle of the Ebro The Battle of the Ebro (, ) was the longest and largest battle of the Spanish Civil War and the greatest, in terms of manpower, logistics and material ever fought on Spanish soil. It took place between July and November 1938, with fighting mainly ...

and the second mentions the

Battle of Jarama The Battle of Jarama (6–27 February 1937) was an attempt by General Francisco Franco's Nationalists to dislodge the Second Spanish Republic, Republican lines along the river Jarama, just east of Madrid, during the Spanish Civil War. Elite Spa ...

, two of the main confrontations of the Civil War. The sentence ''Luchamos contra los moros'' (We fight against the Moors) refers to the '' Regulares'', the feared Moroccan units fighting as the shock troops of the Nationalists. A Croatian singer and songwriter Darko Rundek released a version of the song with

anti-fascist Anti-fascism is a political movement in opposition to fascist ideologies, groups and individuals. Beginning in European countries in the 1920s, it was at its most significant shortly before and during World War II, where the Axis powers were op ...

and anti- oppressor lyrics in his 2000 album ''U širokom svijetu''. The song enjoyed widespread support among populations in the Serbian capital of

Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...

, especially during the 2018–2020 Serbian protests.

Lyrics

Viva la Quince Brigada

References

External links

Miguel Ángel Gómez Naharro - Song ¡Ay Carmela! with lyrics
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ay Carmela! (song) Songs of the Spanish Civil War Songs in Spanish Anti-fascist music Second Spanish Republic Spanish anthems 1930s songs Songs with unknown songwriters

Variants

Lyrics

Viva la Quince Brigada

See also

References

External links