A Spanish politician's shout of "Death to the Bourbons", Spain's royal family, has stirred nationalist tensions and sparked demands he resign. Lower-House deputy Joan Tarda made the cry as members of his Catalan nationalist party, which seeks independence from Spain, burnt a coffin symbolising the Spanish Constitution to mark its 30th anniversary on Saturday.

Under Spanish law, anybody who insults the royal family can face up to two years in prison.

Leaders from across Spain's political spectrum said his comments were unacceptable and the conservative opposition Popular Party demanded Mr Tarda, a member of the Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC), be thrown out of Congress.

"A deputy can't make these sorts of comments, and if he does he has to leave this house immediately," José Luis Ayllon, the Popular Party's Lower-House leader, said yesterday.

Opinion polls show Spain's King Juan Carlos remains broadly popular three decades after he helped usher in the Constitution and end 40 years of dictatorship under General Francisco Franco.

As a symbol of Spain's constitutional monarchy, the royal family is a target for radicals seeking independence or greater autonomy for regions like Catalonia and the Basque country.

In a statement yesterday, Mr Tarda said he did not suggest anyone kill members of the royal family and he meant to criticise the monarchy as an institution.

Mr Tarda's anti-royal statement followed three days after ETA guerillas, who seek an independent Basque state, shot dead a businessman whose firm was building a high-speed rail link between the northwest region and the rest of Spain.

In its previous term, the Socialist government of Spanish Prime Minister José Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, considered amendments to the Constitution covering aspects such as autonomous regions.

With Spain facing its worst recession in decades, Mr Zapatero on Saturday said constitutional reform was not a priority.