El Mundo (Spain)
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El Mundo | |
Full Name | El Mundo del siglo XXI |
Founded | 23 October 1989 |
Type | Generalist Newspaper |
Country | Spain |
Offices | Madrid |
Distribution | National |
Language | Spanish |
Periodicity | Daily |
Publication | Morning |
Circulation | 412.465 (OJD, jan-dec 2005) |
Adjusted Circulation | 314.591 (OJD, jan-dec 2005) |
Price | 1 euro (2005) |
Colour | All color |
Editorial | Unidad Editorial, S.A. |
Founders | Alfonso de Salas, Pedro J. Ramírez, Balbino Fraga y Juan González |
Director | Pedro J. Ramírez |
El Mundo (Spanish for "The World") is the second largest newspaper in Spain, with a circulation of 356,297 (as of 2006). El Mundo is often referred to as the newspaper of record from Spain, along with El Pais and ABC (newspaper). It first appeared on October 23, 1989, founded by Alfonso de Salas, Pedro J. Ramírez, Balbino Fraga and Juan González.
It has its headquarters in Madrid, but different editions are printed in national territories, such as Andalusia, Valencia, Castile and Leon, Balearic Islands, Bilbao, etc. Unlike other Spanish newspapers, its editor, Pedro J. Ramirez, is a very prominent public figure that has become totally identified with the paper in the eyes of the public.
El Mundo has played a key role in uncovering several scandals. Among them was the embezzlement of the Guardia Civil commander, Luis Roldán, and the governor of the Central Bank of Spain, Mariano Rubio, who was accused of insider trading and tax fraud. El Mundo also gave publicity to connections between the terrorist Grupos Antiterroristas de Liberación (GAL) and the socialist administration of Felipe González, a news story that contributed to the defeat of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party in the 1996 elections.
In October 2005, El Mundo revealed that Nazi Aribert Heim (aka "Doctor Death") has been living for 20 years in Spain, probably due to help to ODESSA network, among whom were the henchmen of Otto Skorzeny, who had helped set up one of the most important ODESSA bases in Franco's Spain.
Since the 11 March 2004 Madrid train bombings, El Mundo has been trying to clarify what it considers to be unresolved aspects (the so called "black holes") of the official investigation. This has caused a bitter dispute among the Spanish media. While El Mundo, La Razón, Telemadrid TV station and the Catholic-backed radio station COPE are denouncing the alleged inconsistencies they see in the explanation given so far by the Spanish judiciary about the bombings, other Spanish media like the newspapers El País and ABC or radio stations as the Cadena SER accuse El Mundo and the other media of manipulation in this issue.