Madrid - Whistling at Spain's King Juan Carlos is not a criminal offence, according to a court ruling quoted by media reports on Wednesday. Thousands of Basque and Catalan football fans protested the presence of the king and Queen Sofia at a national cup final football match between Athletic Bilbao and Barcelona in May.
The fans, who supported separatist movements seeking the independence of the two northern regions, displayed banners reading: "We are nations of Europe. Good-bye Spain."
A Spanish nationalist foundation took two football fans' organizations to court, but National Court judge Santiago Pedraz shelved the case.
The fans had made use of their freedom of opinion, the judge said, dismissing the accusation that they had insulted the crown.
Fines have previously been handed down for insults to the crown to demonstrators burning pictures of the king, and to a magazine which published a sexual caricature on Crown Prince Felipe.
