• Spanish Newspapers on the Web
• Foreign Press Correspondents in Spain

The most negative aspect of the Spanish system of communications is the low circulation of the daily press. However, we wish to qualify this latter statement. In Spain, in spite of the fact that only some 100 daily newspapers are sold per thousand inhabitants, 25 per cent of the country's citizens read the daily press. The reason for this can be found in the Spanish habit of sharing reading matter which doubtlessly affects sales figures.

In Spain, some 155 dailies exist, the majority of which are local or regional. The daily papers, which have upped their circulation by two and a half million in the five past years, were able to maintain these readership figures for the Monday thru Firday editions throughout 1994, while registering a sharp increment for the weekend editions. This has permitted, for example, EL PAÍS to attain a circulation of one million copies on Sundays, a hitherto unheard-of figure in the history of Spanish journalism. In its Monday to Friday editions, this paper has a circulation of close to 400,000 copies.

The two leaders in sales, EL PAÍS and ABC, and EL MUNDOare dailies of national circulation published in Madrid, althought with regional editions in some of the Autonomous Communities. They are followed by LA VANGUARDIA and EL PERIÓDICO, published in Barcelona and read essentially in Catalunya and, to a much lesser extent, in other parts of Spain.

Within the daily press, the sports newspapers stand out for their very high readership. Among the ten most widely sold dailies, two papers are exclusively dedicated to sports, AS and MARCA. Another type of newspaper which has experienced an extraordinary success in the last few years is the economic journal. Not only have a large number of publications devoted to this theme appeared, including dailies, but also the most important newspapers are publishing special supplements centered on economic topics.

Annual average readership of the daily paper supplements has registered a slight increase over 1993.

The greatest problem confronting Spain's daily press over the past years has been its technological reconversion, which was successfully surmounted by the majority of newspapers, thanks to, in great part, the financial support of the Administration that has helped to subsidize them. The Administration has also undertaken, together with the owners of the majority of the Spanish dailies, a programme to foment press readership among students.

Now that most newspapers have succesfully completed their technological reconversion, the next step to be negociated is their internationalization. Many of the big circulation papers own shares or have agreements involving the exchange of news with the foreign press.

List of the most important daily newspapers in Spain in terms of circulation of copies per day, (From January 1993 to December 1993).

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          Paper                        Average circulation
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          EL PAÍS                      401,258
          ABC                          334,317
          MARCA                        333,396
          EL MUNDO DEL SIGLO XXI       209,992         
          LA VANGUARDIA                208,029        
          EL PERIODICO DE CATALUÑA     185,517
          AS                           140,213 
          EL CORREO ESPAÑOL.           
          EL PUEBLO VASCO              133,954
          DIARIO 16                    109,338
          LA VOZ DE GALICIA            107,446
          EL DIARIO VASCO               93,578
          SPORT                         88,972
          EL MUNDO DEPORTIVO            67,373
          DIARIO DE NAVARRA             63,312
          HERALDO DE ARAGÓN             58,401
          LAS PROVINCIAS                58,354
          EGIN                          51,366
          LEVANTE                       51,240
          LA NUEVA ESPAÑA               47,972
          LA VERDAD                     46,919
       
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Source: Boletin de la O.I.D. (December, 1993)
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According to figures from the Oficina de Justificación de la Difusión (OJD, Circulation Audit Office), the newspaper El País attained an average circulation of 408,267 copies per day in 1994, an increase of just over 7,000 copies on the 1993 figure. The OJD, the only source uniformly respected by all the media and advertisers, has also certified that the second place went to ABC, with an average of 321,517 copies a day.

The newspaper with the third largest circulation in Spain is El Mundo which, with a circulation of 268,748 copies, beats the 207,112 reached by La Vanguardia and the 193,576 of El Periódico de Catalunya, although the main area of sale of the last two is Catalonia.

With regard to the circulation of Sunday supplements, El País also comes in first place, since the average weekly distribution of El País Semanal was 1,058,584 copies, compared with 632,649 for Blanco y Negro (ABC), 436,242 for La Revista (El Mundo) and 338,629 for La Vanguardia. What is more, the OJD has certified an average distribution of 11,170 copies for El País Internacional and 3,515 for ABC Internacional.

Spain's OJD is a member of the corresponding world organization and monitors and certifies the sale of 96% of newspapers, 90% of the large-circulation magazines and 52% of technical and professional publications.

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CIRCULATION OF THE FIVE MOST IMPORTANT NEWSPAPERS
(January to December, 1994)
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EL PAÍS...................................408,267
ABC.......................................321,571
EL MUNDO..................................268,748
LA VANGUARDIA.............................207,112 (1)
EL PERIÓDICO..............................193,576
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(1)The circulation of La Vanguardia rises
to 353,220 copies on Sundays.
Source: OJD
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The following is a list of links to Spanish newspapers. More will be added as the newspapers provide us their URL's.

Círculo de Corresponsales Extranjeros

This is the page of the foreign press correspondents association in Spain, in which you can locate the offices and journalists who represent new agencies, newspapers, magazines and international radio and television stations that inform regularly about events in Spanish society.