Correos presented this Thursday at the EL PAÍS newsroom in Madrid the commemorative stamp for the 50th anniversary of this newspaper, which will be celebrated next May 4. The issue, part of the Efemérides series, with a print run of 65,000 copies and a postal value of 2 euros, was closed with an honorary cancellation. The stamp is already available at Correos offices, in Correos Market, and through the Philatelic Service.
The meeting was attended by the president of Correos, Pedro Saura; the CEO of PRISA Media, Pilar Gil; the director of EL PAÍS, Jan Martínez Ahrens; the director of Philately and Institutional Relations of Correos, Nuria Lera; the general director of Press and Operations of PRISA Media, Vanessa Hernández; and the commissioner of the newspaper’s 50th anniversary, Javier Moreno.
Saura invited Gil and Martínez Ahrens to perform the traditional cancellation, a gesture that formalizes the launch: the stamp is thus dated and becomes circulating memory. At that moment, the stamp transforms into a collectible object, a postal document, and a cultural symbol.
Correos points out that the new issue recalls five decades of journalistic trajectory of EL PAÍS and its parallel development to some of the main political, social, and cultural changes, especially in Spain and America. Furthermore, it highlights the transformation of this newspaper from its black and white printed stage to its multiple current formats.
Read more Daily ONCE coupon: check the draw for Thursday, April 16
EL PAÍS hit the streets on May 4, 1976, and today has eight digital editions, in addition to the printed one; more than 26.7 million followers on social media and dozens of informative newsletters in text, audio, and video. “This stamp symbolizes the continuity of a journalistic project that has known how to adapt to each era without giving up its founding principles and pays tribute to a trajectory marked by the constant search for truth and dialogue with society,” the entity states.
The presentation event included a tour of the newsroom, where Martínez Ahrens shared with the attendees the daily pulse of the newspaper, explaining how the editorial team’s mechanism works day by day. The visit ended with an invitation from the director to join the activities of the EL PAÍS Festival, which takes place on May 1, 2, and 3 at Matadero Madrid, as part of the newspaper’s celebrations.
The issuance of this stamp has added value: it reminds that journalism also leaves a mark, even in other formats. It is also a promise of travel and the memory of a trajectory. And this stamp carries half a century of news printed on it. With its incorporation into the Efemérides series, Correos pays tribute to the first newspaper of Spanish democracy.