Juan Luis Cebrián leaves the presidency of EL PAÍS

Juan Luis Cebrián, founder and first editor-in-chief of EL PAÍS, is set to give up all his positions in PRISA on May 21 after holding, over the course of the past 42 years, some of the key posts in the Group, including Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. That same day he will be named Honorary President of EL PAÍS. Having stewarded the company through some of its most difficult moments, Cebrián thus oversees the culmination of a succession process that he himself launched in April 2016. He also, thereby, puts to one side his business obligations of recent years to devote more time to what has always been the greatest passion of his life: journalism and writing. His departure will undoubtedly be felt throughout the company, where Cebrián will continue to be a key figure and source of inspiration as the Group addresses new challenges.

Cebrián will continue to write assiduously in EL PAÍS and will be collaborating with the newspaper and the company, whenever his extensive experience and brilliant track record may be of service. It is a source of great satisfaction and pride for this company that the name of Cebrián is set to continue to be closely linked to EL PAÍS, which he will now be representing as Honorary President, in recognition of his works as founder of the newspaper at a decisive moment in the history of Spain and during which he helped to promote it as a global communications medium in Spanish.

The author of a number of books, he is a member of the Royal Spanish Academy. He studied Philosophy at the Universidad Complutense in Madrid and graduated from the Escuela Oficial de Periodismo (Official Journalism School) in Madrid in 1963.

He was a founding member of the journal Cuadernos para el diálogo (1963) and from 1963-75 worked as Chief Reporter and Deputy Editor of the Madrid newspapers Pueblo and Informaciones de Madrid. He was also Director of news services at state television broadcaster Televisión Española.

Juan Luis Cebrián was the founding Editor of El País, and held the post from the outset in 1976 until 1988. From 1986 to 1988 he also served as President of the International Press Institute (IPI). He is a member of the Conseil de Surveillance of the French newspaper Le Monde.

He was also CEO of Sogecable, the Group’s TV company, from its foundation in 1989 until 1999. In 2004, he held the chairmanship of the Association of Spanish Newspaper Publishers (AEDE).

While at the helm of the newspaper El País, Cebrián played a crucial role in the Spanish political transition from dictatorship to democracy. After 50 years in his profession, the many prizes in journalism that he has received include the International Editor of the Year Award from the World Press Review in New York (1980); the Premio Nacional de Periodismo de España - Spain’s National Press Journalism Award (1983); the Freedom of Expression Medal from the F. D. Roosevelt Four Freedoms Foundation; the Medal of Honour from the University of Missouri (1986); the Trento International Prize in Journalism and Communication (1987): and Chile’s Joaquín Chamorro Prize for Freedom of Expression.

Juan Luis Cebrián has also had a long career as writer and lecturer. He is the author of numerous books in the fields of journalism and political sociology, including: “La prensa y la calle”, “La España que bosteza”, “El tamaño del elefante”, “El siglo de las sombras”, “Cartas a un joven periodista”, “La Red” “El futuro no es lo que era” -- written with the former Spanish Prime Minister Felipe González -- “El fundamentalismo democrático” and “El pianista en el burdel”. His novels include “La Rusa”, ”La Isla del Viento”, “La Agonía del Dragón” and “Francomoribundia”. Further literary works have been published in the compilations “Retrato de un Siglo” and “De Madrid… al cielo”, and his essays have been included in books such as “Prensa para la democracia: reto del Siglo XXI” and “Transición Española”. Since 1996 he has been a member of the Royal Spanish Academy. He is also a Chevalier of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres of France.