What Does Hala Madrid Mean? The Phrase, the Anthem and the Decima

"Hala Madrid" is two words, and almost nobody outside Spain can translate them. The short version: hala is a shout of encouragement, Madrid is the club, and the phrase means roughly "go Madrid" or "come on Madrid".

What Hala Means

Hala is a Spanish interjection. It is not a noun and it does not translate cleanly. The closest English equivalents are "go on", "come on" or "get moving", and the closest football equivalent is the French "allez" that England fans hear at every European away game.

The origin of the word is disputed. One account traces it to Arabic, from the centuries of Moorish rule in Spain. That is the version most fan sites repeat, and Wikipedia's entry on the club anthem states it outright, but it is not settled linguistics. Treat it as the popular story rather than a fact.

It is also spelled two ways. "Hala Madrid" and "Aupa Madrid" are separate phrases; "Aupa" is the Basque-influenced equivalent used more often for Athletic Club and Real Sociedad. Real Madrid fans say hala.

The 1952 Anthem

The phrase was a club song before it was a hashtag. In 1952, for Real Madrid's Golden Jubilee, president Santiago Bernabeu commissioned a hymn. Marino Garcia wrote the music, Antonio Villena Sanchez wrote the lyrics, and Indalecio Cisneros recorded it with the singer Jose de Aguilar. It was registered on 1952-03-08.

Spanish fans know it as "el de las mocitas", the one about the young women, because of the line about Sunday afternoons walking to Chamartin. Its refrain is "Hala Madrid". That song is why the phrase belongs to this club and no other.

Hala Madrid y Nada Mas

The version the world knows is younger. "Hala Madrid y nada mas" translates as "Go Madrid, and nothing else".

It was composed by the Moroccan Swedish producer RedOne, real name Nadir Khayat, who wrote the tune on a flight between Madrid and Morocco in 2010. The journalist Manuel Jabois wrote the lyrics. It was recorded in April 2014 by the squad itself, including Cristiano Ronaldo, Iker Casillas and manager Carlo Ancelotti, and released on 2014-05-25.

The date is the point. The day before, on 2014-05-24 at the Estadio da Luz in Lisbon, Real Madrid beat Atletico Madrid 4-1 after extra time to win a record tenth European Cup. Sergio Ramos equalized in the 93rd minute, then Gareth Bale, Marcelo and Ronaldo scored in extra time. That tenth title is La Decima, and the song is its anthem.

Jabois explained the "y nada mas" half as the club's all-or-nothing identity. You love Madrid or you do not.

When Fans Sing It

Before kickoff at the Santiago Bernabeu, and again after every Real Madrid goal. It is also the standard sign-off on Spanish football social media, where #HalaMadrid follows any result the club likes.

The Real Madrid Songs on FootyTracks

FootyTracks has no cover of either anthem. What it has is original music about the players who sing them: Vinicius Junior, Jude Bellingham, Kylian Mbappe and Jose Mourinho, who won a Copa del Rey and a LaLiga title at the club. All four are in the Listen block above, and the rest sit in the Real Madrid collection.