EL PAÍS celebrates four decades of news, democratic values and service to readers

EL PAÍS celebrates four decades of news, democratic values and service to readers

40 years is quite an achievement. And more so when the first steps were taken in a country emerging from a dictatorship. Indeed, the appearance of the newspaper EL PAÍS on May 4, 1976, at the beginning of the transition to democracy in Spain, was more than a mere news story. EL PAÍS was born from an earnest desire to defend individual freedom, to champion the building of a democracy in line with Europe, and from the conviction that Spaniards would be able to rebuild peaceful coexistence after decades of dictatorship. That’s the view of Juan Luis Cebrián, the first editor-in-chief of the newspaper and now executive chairperson of of El País and the PRISA group, in the article that opens the special 316-page magazine that is today being distributed free alongside the regular edition of the paper.

The newspaper, which went to press in the early morning, soon set the gold standard for journalism in Spanish and could easily hold its own on the international stage. Today EL PAÍS is a truly global newspaper, with a clear commitment to the Ibero-American world, and, through its digital edition, brings readers global coverage and is at the cutting edge of news and technology.

From the very outset, the company, its journalists and workers saw its readers as the sole repositories of the right to freedom of expression, as Cebrián recalled. The special issue, whose cover was designed by Rafael Canogar, looks back over the most significant events of these past 40 years. From the Cold War to jihadism, through the fall of the Berlin Wall, the election of the first African-American president to the White House, the Internet revolution, the five Spanish-language writers to have won the Nobel Prize since 1977 and milestones for Spanish football. This is the history not merely of great figures, but also that of ordinary people, all of whom found in EL PAÍS an ally with whom to share and build their hopes.

In addition to the articles by Juan Luis Cebrián and the paper’s editor-in-chief, Antonio Cano, which are featured below, the magazine includes articles by French Prime Minister Manuel Valls; the President of Colombia, Juan Manuel Santos; the former Spanish Prime Minister Felipe González and the academic and writer Antonio Muñoz Molina, as well as interviews with Ana Botin, Banco Santander chief, and Pablo Isla, Inditex chair and CEO.

Juan Luis Cebrián: 'For Freedom'

"It was in defense of individual freedom, to champion the building of a democracy in line with those around us, and from the conviction that Spaniards would be able to rebuild peaceful coexistence after decades of dictatorship, which led us to answer the call of José Ortega Spottorno and risk assets and intellectual prestige in the founding of this newspaper"

Antonio Cano: 'A wonderful time"

"A media outlet as broad and varied as EL PAÍS serves to facilitate dialogue and entertainment. Today we do so with the help of tools that are so sophisticated that even I don’t understand them. Even so, I can’t envisage the day that one of these machines will be able to turn out a story like an El País reporter does."

Among the politicians to feature in the anniversary special are Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría, the caretaker deputy Prime Minister; Pedro Sánchez, secretary general of PSOE; Albert Rivera and Pablo Iglesias, leaders of Ciudadanos and Podemos, respectively, and the socialist Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba. Representing the worlds of culture and sport are the artist Miquel Barceló, Rafael Nadal, filmmaker Fernando Trueba and actor Antonio Banderas.

This great adventure in journalism, spearheaded by Jesús de Polanco and José Ortega Spottorno, always strove for professional and business independence. "Without showing hostility towards anyone, but also without compromising or obedience either." This was one of the mottos that guided Polanco, head of Grupo PRISA until his death in 2007. A total of five editors-in-chief have been at the helm of the newspaper since its founding. Juan Luis Cebrián was replaced in 1988 by Joaquín Estefanía, who was followed by Jesús Ceberio in 1993. Javier Moreno took over in 2006 and made way for Antonio Cano on May 4, 2014.

With a thoroughly overhauled newsroom and equipped with the latest technology, EL PAÍS now looks forward to an increasingly global future at a tumultuous time for media companies. For Antonio Cano, the newspaper’s mission is clear.

The new EL PAÍS newsroom

"There are out there, right now, millions of readers looking at a screen, waiting to read, see or hear what we have to tell them. So let’s tell them something interesting," says Cano in the special issue, in which he also confesses that his new office boasts a photo of the 1981 coup, which shows a group of people avidly reading EL PAÍS while sitting on the stairs at Madrid’s Hotel Palace, mere meters from where the coup was underway. "I have chosen this picture so that I never forget why this newspaper exists: to provide the news and information that a democratic society needs to defend itself against ever present threats."