''El Correo'' (; ) is a leading

daily newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, sport ...

Bilbao ) , motto = , image_map = , mapsize = 275 px , map_caption = Interactive map outlining Bilbao , pushpin_map = Spain Basque Country#Spain#Europe , pushpin_map_caption ...

and the Basque Country of northern Spain. It is among best-selling general interest newspapers in Spain.

History and profile

The brothers Ybarra y de la Revilla – Fernando, Gabriel and Emilio – founded ''El Pueblo Vasco'' ("The Basque People") on 1 May 1910, with Juan de la Cruz as founding editor. The paper supported Vizcaya's young Conservative Party and its editorial line was clerical, Alfonsist monarchist,

free press Freedom of the press or freedom of the media is the fundamental principle that communication and expression through various media, including printed and electronic media, especially published materials, should be considered a right to be exerc ...

and Basque regional autonomist. The paper's chief competitor in Bilbao was ''

La Gaceta del Norte LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second largest city in the United States. La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * La (musical note), or A, the sixth note * "L.A.", a song by Elliott Smith on Figure 8 ( ...

''. Due to these conservative stances, ''El Pueblo Vasco'' was shut down by the Spanish Republic government on 17 July 1936, just before the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlism, Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebeli ...

. It was almost a year later, on 6 July 1937, when the paper published again, after the fall of Bilbao; it was joined on newsstands by ''El Correo Español'', the official newspaper of the

Falange Española Tradicionalista y de las JONS The Falange Española Tradicionalista y de las Juntas de Ofensiva Nacional Sindicalista (FET y de las JONS; ), frequently shortened to just "FET", was the sole legal party of the Francoist regime in Spain. It was created by General Francisco F ...

, the Spanish

fascist Fascism is a far-right, authoritarian, ultra-nationalist political ideology and movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and political and cultural liberalism, a belief in natural social hierarchy and the ...

party, using the seized presses of the Basque nationalist daily '' Euzkadi''. By order of

caudillo A ''caudillo'' ( , ; osp, cabdillo, from Latin , diminutive of ''caput'' "head") is a type of personalist leader wielding military and political power. There is no precise definition of ''caudillo'', which is often used interchangeably with " ...

Francisco Franco Francisco Franco Bahamonde (; 4 December 1892 – 20 November 1975) was a Spanish general who led the Nationalist forces in overthrowing the Second Spanish Republic during the Spanish Civil War and thereafter ruled over Spain from 19 ...

's government on 13 April 1938, the two papers combined as ''El Correo Español-El Pueblo Vasco'', owned by El Pueblo Vasco S.A. but controlled by the Falange. During the first 15 years of

Francoist Spain Francoist Spain ( es, España franquista), or the Francoist dictatorship (), was the period of Spanish history between 1939 and 1975, when Francisco Franco ruled Spain after the Spanish Civil War with the title . After his death in 1975, Sp ...

, ''El Correo'' acquired its competitors ''El Noticiero Bilbaíno'' (1939) and ''

El Diario Vasco ''El Diario Vasco'' ( English: ''The Basque Daily'') is a Spanish morning daily newspaper based in San Sebastián, Basque Country. History and profile ''El Diario Vasco'' was founded in 1934 by the Sociedad Vascongada de Publicaciones, led by c ...

'' (1945). Upon this last purchase, the company's name was changed to Bilbao Editorial S.A. The year 1965 saw ''El Correo'' move to its current offices in Calle Pintor Losada, convert to tabloid format and increase the number of pages. In 1976, ''El Correo'' for the first time surpassed ''La Gaceta del Norte'' in sales, becoming the best-selling newspaper in northern Spain. Also around this time, publisher Javier de Ybarra y Bergé was kidnapped and murdered by rogue elements of the Basque separatist organization

ETA Eta (uppercase , lowercase ; grc, ἦτα ''ē̂ta'' or ell, ήτα ''ita'' ) is the seventh letter of the Greek alphabet, representing the close front unrounded vowel . Originally denoting the voiceless glottal fricative in most dialects, ...

Vatican Vatican may refer to: Vatican City, the city-state ruled by the pope in Rome, including St. Peter's Basilica, Sistine Chapel, Vatican Museum The Holy See * The Holy See, the governing body of the Catholic Church and sovereign entity recognized ...

had a share in ''El Correo'' until 1989. ''El Correo'' was the promoter of '' La Vuelta'', the yearly bicycle race around Spain, between 1955 and 1978. However, due to

organising attacks on the race from the late 1960s, and increasing disorder around the race in the late 1970s during the Spanish transition to democracy, the

Royal Spanish Cycling Federation The Royal Spanish Cycling Federation or RFEC (in Spanish: ''Real Federación Española de Ciclismo'') is the national governing body of cycle racing in Spain. As of 2020, the federation has 3,634 registered clubs and 75,638 federated cyclists. It ...

banned the race from passing through the Basque Country, resulting in ''El Correos announcement in January 1979 that it would no longer organise the race. It was subsequently promoted by the sports event company Unipublic and did not return to the Basque Country until 2011.

Expansion

The 1980s brought geographic expansion, as ''El Correo'' began to publish editions outside the Bilbao metro area and so it purchased ''

El Diario Montañés ''El Diario Montañés'' is a Spanish language daily regional newspaper published in Santander, Spain. Founded in 1902 it is one of the oldest publications in the country. History and profile ''El Diario Montañés'' was first published on 1 Au ...

'', a newspaper in Santander. The paper now publishes nine local editions: five within the province of Vizcaya, which includes Bilbao, and one each serving the provinces of

Álava Álava ( in Spanish) or Araba (), officially Araba/Álava, is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the Basque Country, heir of the ancient Lordship of Álava, former medieval Catholic bishopric and now Latin titular see. Its c ...

Guipúzcoa Gipuzkoa (, , ; es, Guipúzcoa ; french: Guipuscoa) is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the autonomous community of the Basque Country. Its capital city is Donostia-San Sebastián. Gipuzkoa shares borders with the French dep ...

(sharing territory with ''El Diario Vasco''),

Burgos Burgos () is a city in Spain located in the autonomous community of Castile and León. It is the capital and most populated municipality of the province of Burgos. Burgos is situated in the north of the Iberian Peninsula, on the confluence o ...

(in the city of

Miranda de Ebro Miranda de Ebro (Spanish: iˈɾan̪da ðe ˈeβɾo is a city on the Ebro river in the Burgos (province), province of Burgos in the autonomous community of Castile and León, Spain. It is located in the north-eastern part of the province, on th ...

) and

La Rioja La Rioja () is an autonomous community and province in Spain, in the north of the Iberian Peninsula. Its capital is Logroño. Other cities and towns in the province include Calahorra, Arnedo, Alfaro, Haro, Santo Domingo de la Calzada, a ...

. In April 2014, ''El Correo'' began to be published and distributed in the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia ( The Middle East). It is located at ...

. ''El Correo'', ''

'' and ''

'' are now owned by

Grupo Vocento Vocento, S.A., also known as Grupo Vocento, is a Spanish mass media group. Its flagship daily newspaper is the conservative and monarchist ''ABC'', also publishing ''El Correo''. Vocento was created in 2001 upon the merger of Grupo Correo with , ...

, a nationwide communications company that also owns '' ABC'' in Madrid and ''

Las Provincias ''Las Provincias'' is a Spanish language regional newspaper published in Valencia, Spain. Founded in 1886 it is one of the oldest publications in the country. History and profile ''Las Provincias'' was first published in Valencia in January 1886 ...

''. The

editor-in-chief An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The highest-ranking editor of a publication may also be titled editor, managing ...

of ''El Correo'' is Juan Carlos Martínez Gauna and its publisher is Bilbao Editorial. The paper is published in tabloid format. The daily comic strip ''

Don Celes Don, don or DON and variants may refer to: Places *County Donegal, Ireland, Chapman code DON *Don (river), a river in European Russia *Don River (disambiguation), several other rivers with the name *Don, Benin, a town in Benin *Don, Dang, a vill ...

'' (by

Luis del Olmo Luis is a given name. It is the Spanish language, Spanish form of the originally Germanic language, Germanic name or . Other Iberian Romance languages have comparable forms: (with an accent mark on the i) in Portuguese language, Portuguese and ...

, originally published in ''La Gaceta del Norte'') is now a symbol of the newspaper. In 2012 ''El Correo'' was named as the Newspaper of the Year in the category of regional newspapers by the European Newspapers Congress.

Circulation

The circulation of ''El Correo'' was 134,000 copies in 1993. It rose to 138,000 copies in 1994. Its circulation was 130,042 copies in 2002. It fell to 128,000 copies in 2003. The paper had a circulation of 112,588 copies in 2006. The 2008 circulation of the paper was 118,107 copies.

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Correo 1910 establishments in Spain Grupo Vocento Mass media in Bilbao Daily newspapers published in Spain Newspapers established in 1910 Spanish-language newspapers Basque companies