Diario El País Prince of Asturias Award for Communication and Humanities 1983

El País is the Spanish newspaper with the widest circulation, as well being as the most influential. Its first issue appeared on 4th May 1976, at a time when Spain was embarking on its transition to democracy. Its spirited defence of liberties and support for political and social change quickly made it a symbol of modern Spain.

Founded by José Ortega Spottorno, its first editorials defined it as an independent, quality newspaper and advocate of pluralist democracy, with a European vocation. It broke new ground in the adoption of journalistic uses such as its style guide, the figure of the reader’s ombudsman and the Statute of the Editorial Board, approved in 1980, which regulates professional relations between the editorial staff, the newspaper’s management and the publishing company.

The newspaper belongs to the largest media group in Spain, the PRISA Group, whose main shareholder, as of 2010, is Liberty Acquisition Holding (the main shareholders of this investment fund are, in turn, the Americans Nicolas Berggruen and Martin E. Franklin).

El Pais has its registered office in Madrid, where the newsroom, the central offices and one of its printing and distribution plants are located. It has a similar structure in Barcelona, where the Catalan edition is edited and printed. The newspaper also has newsrooms in Bilbao, Seville and Valencia. It prints its different editions in Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Seville, Lugo, Las Palmas, Burgos, Frankfurt, Heerlen (Holland) and Mexico. It has news bureaus in Washington and Brussels, and correspondents in Mexico, Moscow, Paris, Rome, London, Bonn, Lisbon, Jerusalem and Buenos Aires, as well as a network of contributors in New York, Miami, Havana, Lima, Guatemala, Bogotá, Santiago de Chile, Rio de Janeiro, Caracas, Quito, Managua, Amsterdam, Stockholm, Geneva, Vienna, Warsaw, Johannesburg and Rabat. This international presence is reinforced by the International Edition and its news service.

In 1989, El País embarked on several collaborative projects with other newspapers in Europe. It participates in a joint news network together with The Independent, La Repubblica and Le Monde via the European Newspapers Association (ENA).