ElDiario.es
Spanish digital paper, created in 2012
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
elDiario.es is a Spanish digital news outlet founded in 2012[1] and published by Diario de Prensa Digital, S.L.,[2] under the direction of Ignacio Escolar.
 | |
| Type | Online newspaper |
|---|---|
| Publisher | Diario de Prensa Digital S.L. |
| Editor | Ignacio Escolar |
| Founded | 2012 |
| Political alignment | |
| Language | Spanish |
| Headquarters | Madrid, Spain |
| Website | eldiario |
According to official audience audits, in August 2025 it reached 1,965,527 daily unique users according to GfK DAM,[3] and surpassed 17 million monthly unique users and 59.5 million visits according to OJD Interactiva,[4] placing it among the digital media outlets with the largest audiences in the country. That same year, it exceeded 100,000 members and paying subscribers,[5] and by August 2025, the members’ community had grown beyond 106,000.
Business model
The project was launched in September 2012, during the financial crisis, without the backing of major investors or corporations. More than 70% of the company's ownership belongs to people who work in the newsroom itself.[6]
Membership fees account for around 40% of total revenues, making them the second-largest source of funding, while advertising remains the main revenue stream.[7]
Local editions
elDiario.es has editions in every autonomous community, as well as affiliated local outlets, including Andalucía, Aragón, Asturias, Islas Canarias, Cantabria, Castilla-La Mancha, Castilla y León (iLeón and El Bierzo), Catalunya, Comunitat Valenciana (con La Marina), País Vasco, Extremadura, Galicia, Illes Balears, Comunidad de Madrid (y red “Somos”), Región de Murcia, Navarra, and La Rioja.
It is the only Spanish media outlet with complete territorial coverage.[8]
Founding charter and governance
elDiario.es is governed by an internal Charter approved by its community of members on 20 May 2023.[9] It is a binding document regulating the outlet's operations, ethical principles, editorial priorities, quality standards for reporting and opinion, and internal mechanisms for governance, participation, and accountability. Its goal is to guarantee editorial independence, transparency, and the democratic participation of the readership community in the project.
The publishing company is Diario de Prensa Digital, S.L., whose shareholders are mostly journalists from the newsroom itself. More than 70% of the share capital is in the hands of the founding team and staff, limiting external investors’ entry and reducing the risk of corporate or political interference.
The Charter defines the governing bodies:
- The General Assembly, which approves annual accounts and budgets.
- The Board of Directors, responsible for the company's economic and strategic management.
- The Management, headed by the director (Ignacio Escolar since the founding), accountable to the Board and the newsroom.
The Charter also requires members to have detailed access to the outlet's accounts, with an obligation to publish annually the results, revenues from institutional advertising, and the evolution of the subscriber community.
Editorially, the Charter ensures that news decisions are based on professional criteria and establishes mechanisms to protect against conflicts of interest. The newsroom retains the ability to appoint delegates and internal bodies to safeguard journalistic quality and compliance with the Charter's principles.
The 2024 financial report, published in June 2025,[10] emphasized that more than half of revenues came directly from members.
History and origins
The elDiario.es project began after Ignacio Escolar left the directorship of Público in 2009. In the following years, Escolar and a small group of journalists started designing a new independent digital outlet, with a special emphasis on financial transparency and reader-community participation as the foundation for sustainability.
The publishing company Diario de Prensa Digital, S.L., was established in 2012 with shareholding primarily composed of newsroom professionals.
The official launch took place on September 18, 2012,[11] with an initial team of about 12 people and a network of external contributors.
In 2013, the print magazine Cuadernos de elDiario.es was launched on a quarterly basis, with each issue dedicated to in-depth reflection and analysis. That same year, the network of regional editions began to take shape in collaboration with local outlets.
The newsroom gradually expanded its staff and news offering. In 2017, it acquired Vertele,[12] a portal specializing in television, diversifying its content. In 2018, it created the position of gender editor-in-chief, pioneering the institutionalization of a role focused on gender perspective within the newsroom.
In 2020, at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, elDiario.es announced the launch of elDiarioAR,[13] its first international edition based in Argentina, directed by journalist Florencia Angilletta, replicating the membership and transparency model.
License
elDiario.es publishes its contents under a CC BY-SA license. It contains two exceptions: first, the license does not apply to the content (text, graphics, information, images, and so forth) published by elDiario.es from third parties when assigned or attributed to news agencies (EFE, Europa Press, for instance) or any other company separate from Diario de Prensa Digital, SL. All rights to these contents are strictly reserved to the owner (the agency) and therefore may not be reproduced, distributed, processed or publicly communicated without the express consent of the owner. Moreover, the drawings of the cartoonists are Creative Commons property and may not be reproduced for commercial purposes (CC BY-NC).[14]