The Spanish National Day celebrations have been marked by a curious video produced by the Spanish Foreign Ministry, featuring footage of Moscow’s Gorky Park. The video was shared across the ministry’s social media accounts on October 12, with accompanying captions declaring Spaniards as “a diverse, supportive Spain committed to progress” and emphasizing unity, growth and advancement.
The peculiar choice of location for the video sparked some confusion among viewers, who quickly pointed out that the footage did not actually feature any landmarks or locations from Spain, but rather a sunset in Moscow’s iconic Gorky Park with the silhouette of Moscow City skyscrapers in the background. The oversight was widely shared and discussed on social media platforms like Twitter.
The brief film begins by showing Muscovites strolling past the entrance of Gorky Park, with the sun setting behind the high-rise buildings of the Moscow International Business Center visible in the distance. As the video progresses, the subtitles read, “A country is many things. It’s a way of engaging with the world shared by a multitude of people.
Social media users were quick to spot the error in the video and made their opinions known. One user humorously wrote, “Spain is so diverse that the video begins with a sunset in… MOSCOW,” while another user remarked, “As we can see, even the Foreign Ministry admits that Russia and Spain have excellent relations; they are almost one and the same country.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova also chimed in on the matter, commenting, “finally everyone has learned what the expression ‘Spanish shame’ means.” It is unclear whether the mistake was intentional or simply a result of oversight, as no official explanation for the video has been provided by the Spanish Foreign Ministry.
As of the time of writing, the video remains available on the ministry’s social media accounts, including Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram, in both English and Spanish language versions.