The Christmas Eve National Speech or Discurso Nacional de S.M el Rey is broadcast by King Juan Carlos I to Spain

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

 every Christmas

Christmas

Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...

 since 1975. The speech is aired by all the Spanish TV channels.

Recurrent topics

King Juan Carlos I usually refers to the main problems of the nation, such as ETA

ETA

ETA , an acronym for Euskadi Ta Askatasuna is an armed Basque nationalist and separatist organization. The group was founded in 1959 and has since evolved from a group promoting traditional Basque culture to a paramilitary group with the goal of gaining independence for the Greater Basque Country...

. In 2004, the speech was highly related to 11 March 2004 Madrid train bombings

11 March 2004 Madrid train bombings

The Madrid train bombings consisted of a series of coordinated bombings against the Cercanías system of Madrid, Spain on the morning of 11 March 2004 , killing 191 people and wounding 1,800...

; in 2006 he talked about the need to become a united nation against terrorism (in implicit support of Zapatero's anti-terrorist policies), and he mentioned the increasing force of immigrants in Spain and appreciated their contribution to the economy.

In popular culture

• The speech starts every year with the phrase "La reina y yo" (The Queen and I). This is commonly considered the King's main catchphrase and as such it has been parodied by media. A comic strip
  Comic strip
  A comic strip is a sequence of drawings arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions....
  
   in the El Jueves
  El Jueves
  is a Spanish satirical weekly magazine published in Barcelona. Its complete title is ""...
  
   magazine about Monarchy
  Monarchy
  A monarchy is a form of government in which the office of head of state is usually held until death or abdication and is often hereditary and includes a royal house. In some cases, the monarch is elected...
  
   takes his title from this.
• The King's speech has been parodied in many TV shows such as Buenafuente.
• Mariano Rajoy
  Mariano Rajoy
  Mariano Rajoy Brey is a Spanish People's Party politician and is the Prime Minister-elect since 20 November 2011. He will be sworn into office in mid-December 2011....
  
  's speech on the occasion of Fiesta Nacional de España was criticized by the left because it seemed too similar to the King's Christmas speech. Rajoy's message was delivered from a chair, near the flag of Spain
  Flag of Spain
  The flag of Spain , as it is defined in the Spanish Constitution of 1978, consists of three horizontal stripes: red, yellow and red, the yellow stripe being twice the size of each red stripe...
  
  , and in a medium shot, just like the royal speeches usually are.