display:none; not working

[remybink]

Can't hide the span content, I have done this many times no problem, now, it's a problem

<div id="nav">
      <ul>
        <li class="fountains"><a href='category_select.php?id=fountains'>fountains
          <span><?php require('req/nav_select.php'); ?></span></a></li> 
        <li><a href='category_select.php?id=bird'>bird baths</a></li>
        <li><a href='category_select.php?id=planters'>planters</a></li> 
        <li><a href='category_select.php?id=statues'>statues</a></li>
        <li><a href='category_select.php?id=tables'>tables</a></li>
      </ul>
    </div>

 

I added color just to see if css was being processed, works fine.

#nav a{
  color: red;
  }
#nav ul li.fountains a {
  color: blue;
  }
#nav ul li a span {
  display: none;
}