KING'S SPEECH NOT AIRED LIVE ON BASQUE TV

Catalan TV strike keeps King Juan Carlos of Spain off screens

King's speech not aired live on Catalonia's public television for first time since the monarchy was restored

The Spanish king's traditional Christmas Eve address will not be aired onCatalonia's public television on Tuesday for the first time since monarchy was restored, highlighting growing separatist fervour in the wealthy north-eastern region.

Workers at the broadcaster have called a half-hour strike to coincide with the king's speech. The official reason is to protest against cuts and the outsourcing of some production, part of the region's clash with the government in Madrid.

While King Juan Carlos is unlikely to discuss the contentious issue of Catalan independence directly in his speech, he is likely to call on Spaniards to unify as the country struggles to emerge from a five-year economic crisis that has left one in four workers jobless.

TV3, the broadcaster's flagship channel, will show reruns during the strike and the speech will be made available later on its website, a spokeswoman said.

Catalonia is home to 7.6m people and produces about a fifth of Spain's economic output. Its leader, Artur Mas of the centre-right CiU political alliance, is pushing for a referendum on 9 November next year on independence from Spain.

Mariano Rajoy, the Spanish prime minister, says the Catalan plebiscite would be unconstitutional and has vowed to block it in parliament and the courts.

Mas's referendum drive may prove a political dead-end for him and his party. If the central government blocks the plebiscite, his coalition with radical independence party the Catalan Republican Left (ERC) could fall apart and force him to call early elections. Polls show he would lose the election to the ERC.

Catalonia has long had a strong movement for nationalism, primarily as a push for greater autonomy within Spain.

But in recent years a more radical independence movement has taken root and polls show about half of Catalans would vote for full independence if there were a referendum.

Cuts imposed by the Spanish government in response to the economic crisis, perceptions of unfair tax treatment and constant tussles with Madrid over self-governing powers have fuelled the independence movement.

Belt-tightening throughout Spain, as the government tries to plug a massive budget hole, has hit public broadcasters in almost all the country's 17 autonomous regions.

Catalan public television has survived, but Valencia had to shut down its broadcaster and Madrid's public television station has laid off hundreds of employees. Cuts have also hit national public broadcaster RTVE.

Public television in Basque country, another highly devolved region ruled by a nationalist party, will also not transmit the King's speech. But 30-year-old Basque public television EITB has rarely broadcast it, as the Basque Nationalist party has historically been critical of the monarchy.

Spanish households traditionally tune in to the yearly speech by King Juan Carlos, who has been on the throne 38 years and is considered a key player in Spain's transition to democracy after General Francisco Franco died.

In recent years he has used the speech to thank Spaniards for sacrifices in economic hard times and to call on violent Basque separatist group ETA to disband.

In his 2012 speech, which had the lowest audience for the yearly address in 15 years, the king said "no one is above the law," in a reference to corruption charges against his son-in-law and an investigation into his daughter's finances.