El Día gráfico
El Día Gráfico: Diario de la Mañana (1913–1939), one of our city’s most iconic newspapers, was first printed in Barcelona on 12 October 1913. It was the first newspaper created with the intention of prioritising photography through the photogravure technique, which involved reproducing transparent or translucent originals on diazo paper in a process known as heliography.
The newspaper came out every morning and was a great success among the residents of Barcelona thanks to its photos and popular nature. For instance, the newspaper offered subscribers various gifts and even organised a competition for the best satirical song in 1920, with Josep Carner, Santiago Rusiñol and Enric Morera on the judging panel.
During the First World War, the newspaper’s print circulation reached 64,000 copies.
Led by Manuel Marinel·lo, Joan Pich i Pon, Francesc Aguirre and others, El Día Gráfico featured contributions from personalities like Eugeni d’Ors, Carles Rahola, Carme Karr and Víctor Català.
Eugeni d’Ors published Glosari there, after parting ways with the newspaper La Veu de Catalunya.
VEspecially noteworthy is the article published in the 25 December 1913 issue, dedicated to how the newspaper was made: the editorial department on 37 C/ Boqueria, the various sections, the editorial staff, the rotary printing presses, etc.
To consult the edition published on this day, simply click here
Another recommended edition is the one printed on 26 August 1928, the front page of which displays the new rotary printing presses being used at the newspaper. You can find it here
A women’s supplement began publication in 1917, while a Thursday film supplement was published in the 1930s.
During the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939), the newspaper was seized and came under the control of Manuel Azaña’s Republican Party.
For 26 years, it offered a faithful reflection of our city’s history, but unfortunately ceased publication for good on 24 January 1939.
You can read El Día Gráfico on our digitised historical press portal.
Further information:
El Día Gráfico (1913–1939)
AHCB Digital Periodicals Library
Library and Periodicals Library Catalogue
Article of 25 December 1913 dedicated to how the newspaper was made
Sample of El Día Gráfico’s front pages
Front pages of the first and last editions of the newspaper
Front pages from the start of the Spanish Civil War, July 1936
Sample of the newspaper’s headlines