El País strengthens its online edition

The executive editor of El País has appointed Gumersindo Lafuente  as managing editor of the newspaper. Lafuente, along with Borja Echevarría, as deputy managing editor, will spearhead development of the Spanish daily's online edition, which has been integrated into the editorial board of El País. The move comes as the paper commits itself to further develop its online edition and amid a general crisis in the media industry which is leading to cutbacks across the rest of the sector.

Echevarría was part of Lafuente's team at Soitu.es, the online news service founded and directed by Lafuente, the new managing editor.

A total of nine professionals join El País from Soitu.es. Raúl Rivero will head the technical and design departments. The team begins work in January.

Lydia Aguirre, former PRISA communication manager and editor of ELPAÍS.com will continue to develop the online edition from her new post.

Gumersindo Lafuente began his professional career at the newspaper Ya in 1977. In 1986 he joined El Pais as section editor for the supplements Domingo and El País Semanal and in 1995 he was named deputy managing editor of the supplement La Revista, published by El Mundo. From June 2000 till July 2006 he was editor of elmundo.es, the newspaper's online edition before setting up Soitu.es, where he was executive editor until the company's closure on October 27.

Lydia Aguirre has a degree in information science from Madrid's Universidad Complutense. She began her professional career at newspaper Ya in 1988, joining PRISA's business and finance daily, Cinco Días, a year later as a reporter specialized in business and telecommunications. In 1996 she became the paper's New York correspondent, returning to Madrid in 2002 as head of the economy section. She subsequently held the posts of deputy managing editor and managing editor of the business daily. In 2006 she was appointed communication manager for Grupo PRISA and in September 2007 she became editor of ELPAÍS.com.