BUSINESS / PUBLISHING AND PRINTING

List: Top Ten Daily Newspapers in Spain by Number of Readers

Date: July 2007

Source: Estudio General de Medios

Base: All Spanish language newspapers circulated in Spain*

Notes: * Does not include 'sports' papers such as Marca and AS which would otherwise rank fourth and ninth in this list.

Compared to our 2002 rankings (which measured by average circulation) the main changes in the market have come about through the rise of the diarios gratuitos - the daily frees. The trend towards free newspapers, which are supported entirely by advertising, started in 2003 and there are four main ones that are distributed in all the major cities throughout the country. Qué, for example, was launched at the beginning of 2005 and is now distributed in 16 cities. One other paper has made significant gains since 2002 - La Razon. This is a paper with a firm right-wing political philosophy that has gained readership by its unrelenting criticism of Spanish premier José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero. In particular they have attacked him for his handling of the basque terrorost group ETA, his legalisation of gay marriage and his destruction of many of the ancient symbols of Spain's military past. This criticism has resonated with an older demographic of tradionalist Spaniards, many of whom have switched from the milder, more nuanced centre-right newspaper ABC. ABC remains popular in Madrid and Seville but has withered away to almost nothing in other parts of the country. In 2006 ABC had a significant makeover in terms of format which arrested the decline but did not appear bring back many of its older readers.