It was premiered in 1907 in the Teatre Principal of Barcelona as part of a zarzuela of the same name and nowadays is usually performed as the final piece in many cobla concerts. Because of its Catalanist connotacions La Santa Espina was prohibited during the dictatorships of Primo de Rivera (1923–1930) and Francisco Franco (1939–1975), when also the Catalan national anthem Els Segadors was forbidden.
