It has been criticised by some as insulting to women, but hailed by the prime minister as provocative – in a good way.
Days after Spain selected its entry for this year’s Eurovision song contest, the electropop tune Zorra has rocketed to the top of the country’s music charts and divided public opinion.
At the heart of the debate is the song’s rampant use of the word “zorra”, which translates as vixen but is more commonly used to mean “bitch” or “slut”.
Spanish authorities told media this week that they had fielded more than 300 complaints about the song by the duo Nebulossa. In recent days the Feminist Movement of Madrid added its voice to those calling for the song to be pulled from the contest, describing the term as “verbal violence against women”.
The offending term appears 45 times in the song, the organisation said in a statement. “Celebrating a term that is used as a weapon of humiliation by sexist aggressors is a form of public revictimisation,” it added.
While the Spanish state broadcaster RTVE and the European Broadcasting Union, which organises the contest, both said they had approved Spain’s entry, the feminist organisation said the promotion of the song by the public broadcaster risked normalising the term among young children and adolescents.
However, the 55-year-old lead singer of Nebulossa has characterised the song – which describes how women are referred to as “zorra” no matter what they do – as an attempt to reclaim the word. “I have often been called a zorra,” María Bas told RTVE. “This song is a way to transform that word into something beautiful.”
On Wednesday, the song was ranked as the most viral tune on Spotify and No 3 in the world. Translated into English, some of the song’s lyrics go: “If I head out solo, I’m a bitch / If I’m having fun, I’m the biggest bitch / When I get what I want – Bitch, bitch / It’s never ’cause I deserve it – Bitch, Bitch.”
Bas and her husband, Mark Dasousa, 49, launched the band in 2018 after more than two decades of marriage. The pair, who have two children, released their first single in 2020.
As chatter over the Eurovision entry continued to dominate headlines across Spain this week, the dispute was put to Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez. “It seems to me that feminism is not only just, it can be fun, and this type of provocation must come from culture,” he told broadcaster La Sexta. “This is real equality between men and women,” he added.
The view was later echoed by Spain’s equality minister, Ana Redondo. “I think this is a song that breaks the mould, shatters stereotypes and is also massively liked.”
Sánchez, however, went one step further, seizing on the controversy to take a swipe at the conservative critics of the song, such as the Spanish bishop who told Spanish media this week that the song was evidence of a “cultural crisis” in Spain.
Sánchez said rightwing critics would have likely preferred if Cara al Sol, the fascist anthem, had been Spain’s Eurovision entry. With a laugh, he added: “But I much prefer these types of songs.”
