El Pais maintains its lead in the first quarter, 2009

Daily paper El País is market leader, once again, in the general non-giveaway newspaper sector, with an average daily readership of 2,182,000 -39% over its nearest rival- according to third-quarter data from the audit, Estudio General de Medios (EGM).

By region, the paper is clear leader in Andalucia (268,000 readers) where the paper is way ahead of its nearest rivals and other local papers. The paper is also well ahead in Madrid at 712,000 readers, some 310,000 more than the next non-giveaway paper. It is also the most-read paper in Valencia (216,000 readers) and in Galicia (123,000 readers). In Galicia, the paper has grown 34% over the past two years. What's more, the paper is up 5% in the Basque Country.

Online, ELPAÍS.com is the internet's leading source of general information, clocking up 2.4 million unique users every day, a 20% increase over 2008.

Among sports papers, As is up 28% over the past two years and now has 1,317,000 readers.

Over the same period, business and finance daily Cinco Días has seen growth of 31% and now reaches 84,000 readers.