Madrid - A Spanish mayor has been handed a fine of nearly 7,000 euros (9,800 dollars) for insulting King Juan Carlos, the judge who took the decision said Tuesday.

National Court judge Jose Maria Vazquez said that Jose Antonio Barroso, mayor of Puerto Real near Cadiz, had surpassed the limits of political criticism and "personally insulted" a figure representing "the constitutional state."

Barroso, who belongs to the republican far-left party Izquierda Unida (IU), had described the monarch as "corrupt," a "son of bastards" and "despicable."

"We will have to throw him out democratically sooner rather than later," Barroso said in April 2008 while commemorating the establishment of Spain's 1931-39 Second Republic.

"I am not stupid, nor a lackey, nor a courtesan," Barroso said on leaving the court.

IU representative Diego Valderas described the court decision as an "injustice," because the king was not "untouchable."

The party would gradually seek "a republic in which we are all equal and nobody has privileges," Valderas said in the southern city of Jaen.

King Juan Carlos enjoys widespread popularity, but it is seen as being based on his personal merits rather than on a staunch support for the monarchy in general. (dpa)