La Vanguardia
Encyclopedia
La Vanguardia is Catalonia
's leading daily newspaper as well as the fourth best-selling in Spain
. It has its headquarters in Barcelona
, Catalonia's largest city.
La Vanguardia, despite being mostly distributed in Catalonia only, trails only the three main Madrid
dailies among general-interest circulation in Spain: El Pais, El Mundo
and ABC. The other three have local editions elsewhere in Spain, unlike La Vanguardia. La Vanguardia is the only Catalan newspaper that has survived all the Spanish regime changes, from the restoration of Alfonso XII to the 21st century.
' s newspaper history began on 1 February 1881, when two businessmen from Igualada
, Carlos and Bartolomé Godó, first published the paper. It was defined as a Diario de los políticos de avisos y notícias (Political Newspaper of Announcements and News), intended as a means of communication for a faction of the Liberal Party that wanted to gain control over the Barcelona city council.
On 31 December 1887, the paper published its last edition as a party organ, and the next day, 1 January 1888, the first day of the Universal Exposition of Barcelona, it presented a new, politically independent format with morning and afternoon editions.
It is one of the oldest papers in Spain.
and, since 3 May 2011, another one in Catalan
. However, before the birth of the Catalan edition, letters to the editor
submitted in Catalan were always left untranslated.
Its spin leans to the centre of politics and moderate in its opinions. It promotes moderate Catalanist stances and is considered close to the pro-business policies represented by Convergence and Union.
Catalonia
Catalonia is an autonomous community in northeastern Spain, with the official status of a "nationality" of Spain. Catalonia comprises four provinces: Barcelona, Girona, Lleida, and Tarragona. Its capital and largest city is Barcelona. Catalonia covers an area of 32,114 km² and has an...
's leading daily newspaper as well as the fourth best-selling in Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
. It has its headquarters in Barcelona
Barcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
, Catalonia's largest city.
La Vanguardia, despite being mostly distributed in Catalonia only, trails only the three main Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
dailies among general-interest circulation in Spain: El Pais, El Mundo
El Mundo (Spain)
El Mundo is the second largest printed and the largest digital daily newspaper in Spain and one of the newspapers of record in that country, with a daily circulation topping 300,000 readers for the printed edition and 24 million unique web visitors per month for the...
and ABC. The other three have local editions elsewhere in Spain, unlike La Vanguardia. La Vanguardia is the only Catalan newspaper that has survived all the Spanish regime changes, from the restoration of Alfonso XII to the 21st century.
History
La VanguardiaIgualada
Igualada is a municipality of the province of Barcelona in Catalonia . It is located on the left bank of the Anoia river, and at the western end of the Igualada-Martorell-Barcelona railway. Igualada is the capital and central market of the Anoia comarca, a rich agricultural and wine-producing...
, Carlos and Bartolomé Godó, first published the paper. It was defined as a Diario de los políticos de avisos y notícias (Political Newspaper of Announcements and News), intended as a means of communication for a faction of the Liberal Party that wanted to gain control over the Barcelona city council.
On 31 December 1887, the paper published its last edition as a party organ, and the next day, 1 January 1888, the first day of the Universal Exposition of Barcelona, it presented a new, politically independent format with morning and afternoon editions.
It is one of the oldest papers in Spain.
Language
The newspaper has two parallel editions, one in SpanishSpanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
and, since 3 May 2011, another one in Catalan
Catalan language
Catalan is a Romance language, the national and only official language of Andorra and a co-official language in the Spanish autonomous communities of Catalonia, the Balearic Islands and Valencian Community, where it is known as Valencian , as well as in the city of Alghero, on the Italian island...
. However, before the birth of the Catalan edition, letters to the editor
Letter to the editor
A letter to the editor is a letter sent to a publication about issues of concern from its readers. Usually, letters are intended for publication...
submitted in Catalan were always left untranslated.
Its spin leans to the centre of politics and moderate in its opinions. It promotes moderate Catalanist stances and is considered close to the pro-business policies represented by Convergence and Union.
Notable contributors
- Julià GuillamonJulià GuillamonJulià Guillamon is a Spanish-Catalan writer and literary critic. He was born in Barcelona in 1962.Guillamon studied Catalan philology at the University of Barcelona. Since 1994, he has been publishing weekly reviews in the newspaper La Vanguardia. His essays have dealt with the image of Barcelona...
- Quim MonzóQuim Monzóthumb|Quim MonzóQuim Monzó , is a contemporary Catalan writer of novels, short stories and discursive prose, mostly in Catalan. In the early 1970s, Monzó reported from Vietnam, Cambodia, Northern Ireland and East Africa for the Barcelona newspaper Tele/eXprés...
- Fernando KrahnFernando KrahnFernando Krahn was a Chilean cartoonist and plastic artist. A celebrated cartoonist, his works were published in Esquire, The New Yorker, The Atlantic and The Reporter. In 1973 he was forced to flee his native country Chile to escape persecution after the 1973 Chilean coup d'état...
- Sergi PàmiesSergi PàmiesSergi Pàmies is a Spanish Catalan writer, translator, journalist and television and radio presenter. He is the son of the writer Teresa Pàmies and the former general secretary of the Unified Socialist Party of Catalonia, Gregorio López Raimundo. In his works he employs humor and parody mixing...
- Pilar RaholaPilar RaholaPilar Rahola i Martínez is a Catalan journalist, writer, and former politician and MP.Rahola studied Spanish and Catalan Philology at the Universitat de Barcelona. She has published several books in Spanish and Catalan, and she is a columnist at La Vanguardia in Spain; La Nación in Argentina; ...
- Xavier Sala-i-MartinXavier Sala-i-MartinXavier Sala-i-Martin is a professor of economics at Columbia University.Sala-i-Martin earned his degree from the Autonomous University of Barcelona in 1985 and his Ph.D. from Harvard University in 1990, both in economics...
External links
- La Vanguardia newspaper website