El Ciervo was established in 1951.[2][3] Its first issue appeared in Barcelona in late June 1951.[4] Lorenzo Gomis was its cofounder and one of its directors.[5][6][7] His wife journalist Roser Bofill is the other cofounder.[7] The magazine is a brainchild of Claudio Colomer Marqués, director of the newspaper El Correo Catalán.[4] He also financed the magazine for the first five years.[4] It previously came out monthly.[8] It is published by El Ciervo 96, S.A, five times a year.[3]
The magazine has no ties with media groups or political parties.[3] During the formative years the magazine adhered to liberal Christian stance, but later it abandoned it.[1] At the same time the magazine was one of the media outlets, which expressed a culture of dissidence.[9] By the late 1950s it began to adopt a progressive stance.[8] The headquarters of the magazine was seized by the Francoist forces.[6] During the 1970s it supported the democratic transition to end Francoist era.[5] On 4 July 1972 the Adolfo Hitler Commando invaded the headquarters of the magazine.[10] Following the transition the magazine reduced its interest in politics, and mostly covered cultural issues.[5]
El Ciervo covers articles about all topics related to society.[1] Enrique Sordo was among the early contributors.[11]