Zamboanga Hermosa

My friend who used to work in Guatemala (and learned his Spanish there) was quite amused when he saw deliciosa ciudad in the lyrics of the song Zamboanga Hermosa. I also felt that it was weird since we often only use the word delicious for food in English. Upon researching the word deliciosa however, it seems that this word can also mean pleasant, charming, or lovely in Spanish.

This is the same in the French language wherein the French word for delicious (délicieux) can also apply to people (and yes, in this case, a city). Who can forget the time the French president called Australian Prime Minister Thornbull's wife delicious?

Another peculiar word in this Spanish song is the word dalaga but a quick search in the DRAE will tell us that this also is a Spanish word! 

dalaga
1. f. Filip. Mujer soltera, doncella y joven.

I'm not sure if it's true but I've read that they used this song as the national hymn during the short-lived Republic of Zamboanga.

Note the Castilian pronunciation of the letter c in ciudad (how very pretentious!). This was the way students were taught to pronounce Spanish words in the Philippines.