The King's Christmas Speech, formally known as His Majesty The King's Christmas Message ( es, Mensaje de Navidad de S.M. el Rey) is a broadcast by the reigning
King of Spain to
Spanish people
Spaniards, or Spanish people, are a Romance ethnic group native to Spain. Within Spain, there are a number of national and regional ethnic identities that reflect the country's complex history, including a number of different languages, both i ...
every
Christmas Eve since 1975. The speech is aired on all
Spanish TV channels.
Broadcast
The message typically combines a chronicle of that year's major events, with specific focus on politics, economy, culture and social affairs, and also the sovereign's own personal feelings on Christmas.
In Spain and on the Internet, the King's Christmas Speech is not broadcast until 21:00 on 24 December.
Recurrent topics
During his reign, King
Juan Carlos I usually covered the main problems of the nation, such as
ETA
Eta (uppercase , lowercase ; grc, ἦτα ''ē̂ta'' or ell, ήτα ''ita'' ) is the seventh letter of the Greek alphabet, representing the close front unrounded vowel . Originally denoting the voiceless glottal fricative in most dialects, ...
. In 2004, the speech was highly related to the
11 March 2004 Madrid train bombings; in 2006 the King discussed the need to become a united nation against terrorism (in implicit support of
Prime Minister
A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...
José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero's anti-terrorist policies) and he mentioned the increasing force of immigrants in Spain and appreciated their contribution to the economy.
Special speeches
In popular culture
*During his reign, Juan Carlos began his speeches with the phrase "La reina y yo" ("
The Queen
In the English-speaking world, The Queen most commonly refers to:
* Elizabeth II (1926–2022), Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 1952 until her death
The Queen may also refer to:
* Camilla, Queen Consort (born 1947), ...
and I"). This is commonly considered the King's main catchphrase and as such has often been parodied by media. A
comic strip in ''
El Jueves
(Spanish for "''Thursday''") is a Spanish weekly satirical magazine based in Barcelona.
Throughout most of its life, ''El Juevess masthead has featured the tagline "" ("''the magazine that comes out on Wednesdays''"). Its mascot is a nameless ...
'' magazine about the monarchy takes his title from this. In a departure from his father's custom, King
Felipe VI
Felipe VI (;,
* eu, Felipe VI.a,
* ca, Felip VI,
* gl, Filipe VI, . Felipe Juan Pablo Alfonso de Todos los Santos de Borbón y Grecia; born 30 January 1968) is King of Spain. He is the son of former King Juan Carlos I and Queen Sofía, and ...
did not start his 2015 speech with the phrase "La reina y yo", rather saying ''Buenas Noches'' ("Good Night").
*The King's speech has been parodied in many television shows such as ''
Buenafuente''.
*
Mariano Rajoy
Mariano Rajoy Brey (; born 27 March 1955) is a Spanish politician who served as Prime Minister of Spain from 2011 to 2018, when a vote of no confidence ousted his government. On 5 June 2018, he announced his resignation as People's Party lead ...
's speech on the occasion of
Fiesta Nacional de España
The National Day of Spain ( es, Fiesta Nacional de España, help=nolink=no) is a national holiday held annually on October 12. It is also traditionally and commonly referred to as the Día de la Hispanidad ( Hispanicity, Spanishness Day), c ...
was criticized by the Left because it seemed too similar to the King's Christmas speech. Rajoy delivered his message seated near the
flag of Spain and in a medium shot, just as royal speeches usually are.
References
Christmas in Spain
Spanish monarchy
Speeches by heads of state
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