An American band have recorded a Spanish version of "The Star-Spangled Banner".

"The vocals and instruments of dozens of Latino musicians, including the hip-hop star Pitbull and the singer Carlos Ponce, have been recruited to turn the theme song of the American soul into something which everyone from south of the Rio Grande can sing - especially if their patriotic fervour isn't matched by their ability to speak English."

Apparently tens of thousands of illegal and legal migrants were seen demonstrating on the streets of LA, New York and Washington, waving the Mexican flag, when they should have been unfurling - and singing - "The Star-Spangled Banner".

However, not eveyone is pleased with "Nuestro Himno".

The poet Francis Scott Key celebrated the Yankee victory over the British when he wrote "Oh, say can you see, by the dawn's early light" - not "a la luz de la aurora".

Fondling a copy of the original manuscript, his great-great-grandson Charles Key vents his anger: "I think it's despicable that somebody would go into our society from another country and change our national anthem!"

The poet himself may well be spinning in his grave.

The anti-(illegal) immigration lobby have decried the Spanish version as another onslaught on the sanctity of the American soul.

Even George W. Bush has joined in. Between weightier matters like Iran's nuclear threat and prices at the pump, the beleaguered president stood in the Rose Garden of the White House on Friday, looking very earnest.

He tried to nip this part of the immigration debate in the bud by declaring flatly that the anthem should be sung in English and that anyone coming to live in this country should learn English.

He stumbled on the word English, but the point was taken.

All of this is a distraction of course from the meat of the issue, which is that Congress has still failed to come up with comprehensive immigration reform, tempers are rising and 1 May will be another day of demonstrations and walk-outs from a community that now represents the biggest minority in the United States.

"Nuestro Himno" might have been dismissed as a gimmick had it not been for the fact that this country is already bitterly divided about immigration reform and that tampering with the sacred symbols of American nationhood is never taken lightly.

(From a BBC article)