''El Imparcial'' was a newspaper with a liberal ideology published in

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

, Spain, between 1867 and 1933. Founded by , it was one of the first newspapers in Spain published by a company as opposed to a political party.

19th century

''El Imparcial'' was founded by Eduardo Gasset y Artime on 16 March 1867. It had an initial circulation of 25,000. By 1890 it had become one of the main Spanish newspapers and, according to the publication itself, "it was sold even in the smallest villages" and "in the kiosks of the boulevards of Paris, in Marseille, Bordeaux, Nice, Rome, Naples, London and Buenos Aires". At the beginning of the 20th century it had a circulation of 130,000 copies. It was the newspaper with the greatest circulation and influence during the regency of

Maria Christina of Austria Maria Christina Henriette Desideria Felicitas Raineria of Austria ( es, María Cristina de Habsburgo-Lorena; 21 July 1858 – 6 February 1929) was the second queen consort of Alfonso XII of Spain. She was queen regent during the vacancy of the ...

, but it began to lose prestige due to its political ups and downs, and especially after the appointment of its director, Rafael Gasset Chinchilla, as

Minister of Public Works This list indicates government departments in various countries dedicated to public works or infrastructure. See also * Public works * Ministry or Board of Public Works, the imperial Chinese ministry overseeing public projects from the Tang ...

for

Francisco Silvela Francisco Silvela y Le Vielleuze (15 December 1843, in Madrid – 29 May 1905, in Madrid) was a Spanish politician who became Prime Minister of Spain on 3 May 1899, succeeding Práxedes Mateo Sagasta. He served in this capacity until 22 October ...

in 1900. After its initial installation on Calle Mesonero Romanos its headquarters were moved to the Madrid building designed by Daniel Zavala Álvarez at 4 Calle Duque de Alba ( Plaza de Tirso de Molina). The ''Los Lunes'' cultural section of El Imparcial was the most important in the Spanish language for decades, with the regular collaboration of the senior staff of the

Generation of '98 The Generation of '98 ( es, Generación del 98), also called Generation of 1898 ( es, Generación de 1898, links=no), was a group of novelists, poets, essayists, and philosophers active in Spain at the time of the Spanish–American War (1898), comm ...

Miguel de Unamuno Miguel de Unamuno y Jugo (29 September 1864 – 31 December 1936) was a Spanish essayist, novelist, poet, playwright, philosopher, professor of Greek and Classics, and later rector at the University of Salamanca. His major philosophical essay w ...

Ramiro de Maeztu Ramiro de Maeztu y Whitney (May 4, 1875 – October 29, 1936) was a prolific Spanish essayist, journalist and publicist. His early literary work adscribes him to the Generation of '98. Adept to Nietzschean and Social Darwinist ideas in his youth, ...

José Martínez Ruiz José Augusto Trinidad Martínez Ruiz, better known by his pseudonym Azorín (; June 8, 1873 – March 2, 1967), was a Spanish novelist, essayist and literary critic. As a political radical in the 1890s, he moved steadily to the right. In litera ...

and

Pío Baroja Pío Baroja y Nessi (28 December 1872 – 30 October 1956) was a Spanish writer, one of the key novelists of the Generation of '98. He was a member of an illustrious family. His brother Ricardo was a painter, writer and engraver, and his nephew ...

20th century

1900-07-31-El-Imparcial-asesinato-rey-Italia

At the end of 1903 there was an attempt to merge ''El Imparcial'' and the illustrated magazine '' Blanco y Negro'', but the attempt failed. In 1906 the newspaper was one of the founders, together with ''

El Liberal ''El Liberal'' was a Spanish liberal newspaper published in Madrid between 1879 and 1936. It was one of the leading papers of Spain under the Restoration. Between 1890 and 1906, ''El Liberal'' was edited by Miguel Moya (1856–1920), a leading S ...

'' and the ''

Heraldo de Madrid The ''Heraldo de Madrid'' (originally ''El Heraldo de Madrid'') was a Spanish daily newspaper published from 1890 to 1939, with an evening circulation. It came to espouse a Republican leaning in its later spell. History The publication was fo ...

'', of the ''Sociedad Editorial de España'', also known as "the Trust." Of the three newspapers that made up the group, ''El Imparcial'' was the one located further to the right and with a more bourgeois audience, fearful of labor movements and new nationalisms. "The Trust" became a powerful publishing group. However, in March 1916 ''El Imparcial'' separated from the group, since the operation had not been financially beneficial for the newspaper. The newspaper, again under the control of the Gasset family, did not manage to increase its sales nor did it improve its economic situation. The Gasset family had conversations with the publisher and businessman Nicolás María de Urgoiti, although these did not give any results. In its last years General Luis Bermúdez de Castro stood out in his management of ''El Imparcial''. After the proclamation of the

Second Spanish Republic The Spanish Republic (), commonly known as the Second Spanish Republic (), was the form of government in Spain from 1931 to 1939. The Republic was proclaimed on 14 April 1931, after the deposition of Alfonso XIII, King Alfonso XIII, and was di ...

, from mid-1932 the newspaper adopted positions close to the

Radical Republican Party The Radical Republican Party ( es, Partido Republicano Radical), sometimes shortened to the Radical Party, was a Spanish Radical party in existence between 1908 and 1936. Beginning as a splinter from earlier Radical parties, it initially played a ...

Alejandro Lerroux Alejandro Lerroux García (4 March 1864, in La Rambla, Córdoba – 25 June 1949, in Madrid) was a Spanish politician who was the leader of the Radical Republican Party. He served as Prime Minister three times from 1933 to 1935 and held severa ...

, although from March 1933 it would turn towards monarchical positions. ''El Imparcial'', which in its last years had a limited audience, disappeared in May 1933.

Notes

Sources

* * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Imparcial, El Newspapers published in Madrid Daily newspapers published in Spain Defunct newspapers published in Spain