Diario de León

Foundation and early years (1906–1930)

The first issue of the Diario de León was published on 3 February 1906, the feast day of Saint Blaise, under the motto set by Bishop Sanz y Saravia: a newspaper that would «combat, fight and rebut», within Christian humanism and the defence of the interests of the Church and Spain.^[1][2] The evening before, a priest and three founding members had made a pilgrimage to the shrine of the Virgen del Camino to entrust the project to the patron saint of the Kingdom of León.^[2] In its early days the editorial offices were located at 5 Calle del Paso, and it was printed at the workshop of a Mr Tejedor, at 17 Calle La Paloma in León. Although the inaugural issue has not survived —the first days suffered «a typographical disaster» at that «old and dilapidated» printing press— the newspaper's archive holds copies from the second issue, dated 5 February 1906: the first issue appeared on a Saturday and, as the newspaper did not publish on Sundays, readers had to wait until Monday for the second edition.^[2][3]

The first editor was Eloy Blanco del Valle —described as «a man of vast culture, refined piety and deep convictions»— who was succeeded by the scholar Mariano Domínguez Berrueta (1906–1907), who raised the circulation to 1,700 copies a day.^[2] He was followed by Isaac Martín Granizo, a young lawyer and intellectual who took up the post at the age of 26. He transformed the newspaper, imposing his own style, drew up a code of ethics and gave the paper a spirit of modernity, even opening its pages to the feminist movement and making the campaign for women's rights newsworthy. He died prematurely in 1909 at the age of 28 from a heart condition, a loss that shocked León society.^[4][2]

In its early days the newspaper appeared in the afternoon, ran to four pages and was sold at five céntimos a copy or one peseta for a monthly subscription.^[3][2] Early contributors included José González (Risaco), Alberto López Argüello and Raimundo Rodríguez Vega.^[1][3]

On 31 May 1906, the newspaper ran a three-column front page covering the wedding of King Alfonso XIII to Princess Victoria Eugenie, the anarchist attack by Mateo Morral and the death of the Leonese Eusebio López Torbado in the explosion, establishing a journalistic approach that would endure: giving national news a local León angle.^[2] Under Martín Granizo's editorship, the newspaper also published its first special edition devoted to El Bierzo, to mark the coronation of the Virgen de la Encina, initiating a sustained focus on the Bierzo region.^[2]

The newspaper was born at a time of journalistic vitality in León, competing with titles such as La Democracia, El Porvenir and León de España.^[1] It was also in 1906 that the journalists of León founded the Asociación de la Prensa de León.

In 1911 the young schoolteacher Calimería Montiel Marcos —born in Fresno de la Vega— joined as a columnist at the age of 23, becoming a pioneer of women's journalism in the province. Several decades would pass before another woman, Concha Espina, wrote for the paper.^[2]

The installation of the newspaper's first telephone in 1916, which bore the number 110, and the incorporation two years later of the chronicler Carmelo Hernández Moros, «Lamparilla» —also known as «el divino sordo» (the divine deaf man), considered by local historians to be the most popular journalist in the history of León— are landmark moments in the paper's history.^[1][2]

In 1920 the paper changed ownership and rebranded itself from «Periódico de noticias» to «Periódico católico regional», becoming a mouthpiece for the Catholic trade unions. In 1921 the newspaper moved to Calle Pablo Flórez, next to the Cathedral, premises it would occupy for more than six decades.^[4] During the 1920s the paper campaigned on behalf of Leonese soldiers serving in the Rif campaign and backed Cultural Leonesa from 29 April 1922.^[3]

The Republic and Civil War (1931–1939)

Between 1919 and 1921 the newspaper suffered the consequences of paper rationing and wage demands by the Sociedad de Tipógrafos. The strikes of 1931 again prevented publication, as would happen on the eve of the Civil War.^[1]

The proclamation of the Second Spanish Republic on 14 April 1931 put the editorial team under strain: an editorial provoked an angry response from Republicans, flooding the offices with letters and phone calls, yet the paper held firm in defence of its Catholic ideals.^[3]

During the conflict Antonio González de Lama temporarily replaced Filemón de la Cuesta as editor, and under his stewardship the newspaper barely survived. In the months before the military uprising, during the Popular Front government, the paper's offices were stormed and its equipment requisitioned for military use; normal publication resumed after the Nationalist forces took León in July 1936.^[1] The paper had correspondents at the front, including Mariano Domínguez Berrueta and González de Lama himself.

Post-war period and modernisation (1940–1973)

In 1956 the publishing company Sarpe acquired a stake, leaving the Diocese in a minority for the first time. José Luis Pérez Herrero became editor that year as the first lay director. In 1964 Alfredo Marcos Oteruelo opened the doors to professionally trained journalists with no ecclesiastical ties.

Antonio González de Lama —a priest, poet and co-founder in 1944 of the celebrated journal Espadaña— was one of the paper's most emblematic editors, serving three separate terms (1937–1939, 1956 and 1961–1964). A school and a street in León bear his name.^[5]

In April 1973 the Diario de León abandoned traditional letterpress printing —which had barely evolved since Gutenberg— and adopted offset printing, making it one of the pioneers of the technology in Spain: only four newspapers in the entire country had adopted the new system at that point. A small American Goss press replaced the compositors, Linotype machines and flatbed press, and introduced a new professional role: the page designer or layout editor. The first was Luis Infante Bravo, a journalist trained at the University of Navarre who later became editor of the sports daily Marca in the 1990s.^[1] That same year the paper became a morning publication.

On 6 November 1973 Javier Olave Lusarreta was appointed editor at the age of only 26, making him one of the youngest editors of a daily newspaper in Spain at the time.^[1] With Alfredo Marcos Oteruelo and Olave came «a new concept of journalism made by journalists», trained at the Official School of Journalism and later at university Schools of Information Science, and notable bylines were added including Bernardino Martínez Hernando, Jesús Torbado, José Antonio Carro Celada, César Aller and Ernesto Escapa.^[1]

Democratic transition and consolidation (1975–2007)

During the Transition, the paper covered the assassination of Carrero Blanco —which occurred shortly after Olave's appointment— the death of Franco, the proclamation of Juan Carlos I and the first democratic elections. After Olave left for Madrid in 1977, Íñigo Domínguez took over as editor, maintaining the editorial structure while strengthening the provincial correspondents' network and the Bierzo desk.^[1]

Integration into Edigrup (2007–present)

In March 2007 businessman José Luis Ulibarri acquired 84.2% of the shares from the Voz de Galicia Group, incorporating the title into what would become Edigrup Media.^[8]

In March 2009 the newspaper announced the closure of its own rotary press in Trobajo del Camino and the transfer of printing to the Calprint plant in Benavente, citing ageing machinery and the need for more colour pages.^[9] Shortly afterwards, in January 2010, the dedicated El Bierzo edition was discontinued for technical reasons, although the Bierzo delegation —located in the Edificio Minero on Avenida de Valdés in Ponferrada— remains active.

In June 2013 Joaquín Sánchez Torné became editor. From 8 March 2014 the Diario de León has been distributed jointly with El Mundo across the province.^[10] Under Sánchez Torné the paper covered major news events including the assassination of Isabel Carrasco, former president of the Provincial Deputation of León, in May 2014.^[11]

In 2023 the Diario de León moved its headquarters from the Trobajo del Camino industrial estate to the Edificio Europa on Avenida de Reyes Leoneses in León city centre.^[4]