MADRID - The search for words for the Spanish national anthem has been put on hold until after the Beijing Olympics after proposed new lyrics were ditched following widespread derision.

The Spanish team stand for their national anthem prior to the final of the European Basketball Championships in 2007. The search for words for the Spanish national anthem has been put on hold until after the Beijing Olympics after proposed new lyrics were ditched following widespread derision. [Agencies]

"We have not given up on the idea, but with an election coming up and the Olympic Games to prepare for, now is the time to be calm," Spanish Olympic Committee chairman Alejandro Blanco told a news conference.

"We will have to wait for the results of the election and see how the new representatives react to the idea."

Spain's "Royal March" national anthem has been played without words since 1978, when lyrics approved by right-wing dictator Francisco Franco were dropped.

The Spanish Olympic Committe launched a competition to find new words for the anthem ahead of the Beijing Games rather than see its athletes hum along or sing "la, la, la" as they usually do.

But the winning version, penned by unemployed 52-year-old Paulino Cubero, was leaked and met with mockery in the Spanish media and among members of parliament responsible for approving the lyrics.

The anthem's opening words, "Long live Spain!" had an authoritarian ring to many and one prominent left-wing leader said they "stank" of the Franco era.

The nationalistic tone met with opposition from separatists in the Basque Country and Catalonia. The lyrics were dropped last week.