Asha: “Marruecos no quería ganar por ego, sino por hacer que todos estén orgullosos de su país”

Asha is the stage name of Hajar Sbihi. This young singer and songwriter, responsible for some hit songs such as "Bésame" and "Pa'lante", supported the Moroccan national team during the last World Cup and spoke to Atalayar to highlight the great role played by her country in the World Cup and to analyse the image of Moroccans abroad.  

What kind of songs do you do? 

Pop songs, commercial songs, very different genres. I have also written many songs for singers and musical artists. 

Were you born in Morocco? 

Yes, I was born and lived in Morocco for 18 years. At that age I came to Spain and I've been here for about 6 years. 

Do you think you will be successful in your professional career in Spain as a singer? 

Yes, I do. As a songwriter I have been able to prove that, without speaking the language perfectly and arriving here without knowing a word of Spanish, I have achieved a number 1 in the Top 40, on Spotify and on all the radio stations with a song that I had written 3 years ago. I was also able to write a song for Eurovision that was number 3. Now, as an artist and a singer, I am on this path and I hope it will also go like the others. 

So there are no prejudices or stereotypes. You are a good professional and you can succeed in Spain no matter if you are Moroccan or not. 

Yes, I think that my physical appearance has meant that I am not rejected so much. Every time people realise that I am Moroccan, they are very surprised. 

The coexistence, the tolerance here in Spain, what is it like? How do you live? 

I live perfectly well. Sometimes with older people I have felt more disaffection, but it has happened very little. In Spain I'm fine.

How could you define tolerance? 

For me, tolerance begins with respect for the freedom of others. And even if the other person doesn't understand their freedom or their decisions, respect means not judging, for example, the fact that a person wants to wear a veil. There are many women who want to wear it and many Spaniards say that it goes against freedom or that it is something sexist, but if the person wants to do it, I think they have to be respected, just like anyone else. 

How have you experienced this World Cup and do you think that football has brought Spaniards and Moroccans closer together? 

Yes, I think so. I started watching it with the match between Spain and Morocco and I didn't think we were going to get that far. From the moment I started watching it, I was filled with happiness. As well as the high level of the Moroccan team, I liked seeing all this desire to win, to succeed and to represent the country. I think it's very magical, you can feel the energy in the stadium, everywhere. What I liked is that there are many Spaniards and people of different nationalities who wanted Morocco to win, and I feel that they have been able to transmit to everyone this desire to win and to make people feel very proud. 

Also, the image they give is of a modern, developed Morocco that has tried to give a face-to-face image to France. I think they played better than France. 

I'm sad because they lost to France, even though they played very well during the World Cup and until the last minute they were determined to win. What I liked is that they wanted to win not for ego, but to make everyone proud to be from Morocco. Many players are from abroad or have been playing abroad, but they wanted to give this victory to the Moroccan people. They also gave the image of a modern Morocco, a Morocco that cares about sports, the development of technology, industry. And here we are all organised through the networks with the national team and everyone is contributing. 

Morocco's image at the international level is now very good. 

Yes, even I, who work in Mexico, can see that all Mexicans wanted Morocco to win. I think all this has given Morocco a lot of worldwide publicity and many countries that perhaps didn't even know the country existed.