Those of us who've had the misfortune of sitting through one of Hugo Chavez' interminable diatribes quietly savored the moment during last week's Ibero-American summit when Spain's King Juan Carlos bluntly asked the Venezuelan president "Why don't you shut up?"

The royal outburst occurred on the final day of the international parley in the Chilean capital of Santiago, at a point when Spanish prime minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero was politely asking his South American counterpart to cease referring to Zapatero's right-wing predecessor Jose Maria Aznar as a "fascist." True to form, Chavez kept talking through Zapatero's comments even though the Venezuelan leader's microphone was turned off--at which point the usually courtly monarch could no longer contain himself and uttered the words so many of us in Latin America's foreign press corps have been longing to hear.

Reporter Mike Elkin writes from Spain:

 In Spain there are both written and unwritten rules that prohibit any criticism or mocking of the Spanish monarchy, evident in Tuesday’s court decision to fine two employees at El Jueves magazine – similar to Mad magazine – for slandering Prince Felipe. This summer the cover of El Jueves decided to make fun of the government’s plan to subsidize new parents with 2,500 euros per child. The illustration showed a caricature of Felipe having sex with wife Letizia and saying, "Have you heard? If you get pregnant, this will be the closest thing to work I’ve ever done!"

It was not the most outrageous Jueves cover, but a judge ordered the magazine’s recall, which of course ensured that everyone in Spain saw it instead of the magazine’s usual staple of teenage boys. The court, enforcing a law specifically designed to protect the monarchy’s honor, fined the Jueves cover writer and illustrator 3,000 euros each for deliberate slander against the monarchy (they are appealing). In a way, however, the cover illustrates a growing anti-monarchical feeling in Spain. Pro-republic marches seem to be taking place more frequently and it’s unlikely that a future King Felipe will enjoy the same unflappable sway over Spaniards that his father, King Juan Carlos, does now.