ElDiario.es
elDiario.es is a Spanish digital news outlet founded in 2012 and published by Diario de Prensa Digital, S.L., under the direction of Ignacio Escolar.
It is one of the most important and influential digital newspapers in Spain. According to official audience audits, in August 2025 it reached 1,965,527 daily unique users according to GfK DAM, and surpassed 17 million monthly unique users and 59.5 million visits according to OJD Interactiva, 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, and by August 2025, the members’ community had grown beyond 106,000.
elDiario.es is an independent digital newspaper that has become a reference for news and current affairs for a new generation of readers in Spain, with an innovative business model and a strong public service mission. Over the years, elDiario.es has positioned itself among the ten most-read digital outlets in Spain, competing with large, long-established national newspapers.
elDiario.es stands out as the national newspaper with the most extensive and comprehensive local presence in Spain. The website has newsrooms in all seventeen of Spain's autonomous communities, as well as six additional teams providing hyperlocal coverage from their respective cities and regions. This unique structure allows us to deliver the most thorough and in-depth local news coverage in the country from a single media organization.
Business model
The project was launched in September 2012, during the financial crisis, without the backing of major investors or corporations. Since then, it has developed a model of community journalism aimed at the general public and sustained by the trust of its readership. More than 70% of the company's ownership belongs to people who work in the newsroom itself, reinforcing its independence from external interests.elDiario.es maintains that the main pending innovation in journalism is to reconnect with society—to be part of it rather than part of the power it should be monitoring. In line with that vision, a fundamental part of its funding comes from member-readers, who contribute financially not to access the information—which is offered openly—but to guarantee its independence and allow the news to have a real impact and reach society as a whole.
Membership fees account for around 40% of total revenues, making them the second-largest source of funding, while advertising remains the main revenue stream.
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, Catalunya, Comunitat Valenciana, País Vasco, Extremadura, Galicia, Illes Balears, Comunidad de Madrid, Región de Murcia, Navarra, and La Rioja.It is the only Spanish media outlet with complete territorial coverage.
Founding charter and governance
elDiario.es is governed by an internal Charter approved by its community of members on 20 May 2023. 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, accountable to the Board and the newsroom.
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.
Financial results
Since its founding in 2012, elDiario.es has published a detailed annual financial report open to members and readers. These reports include total turnover, annual results, revenue distribution, and the evolution of subscriber numbers.
The outlet has closed nearly all fiscal years with a surplus and without bank debt—uncommon in Spanish digital journalism. Publishing transparent figures is part of its Charter commitments.
The 2024 financial report, published in June 2025, emphasized that more than half of revenues came directly from members, positioning elDiario.es as a unique case of subscription-based sustainability within the Spanish digital media ecosystem.
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. From the outset, the formula was designed to avoid dependence on large corporate or financial groups, later enshrined in its Charter.
The official launch took place on September 18, 2012, with an initial team of about 12 people and a network of external contributors. From its first week, elDiario.es adopted an open-content model, accessible to any reader, and introduced the figure of members contributing financially to guarantee independence. Within a few months, it surpassed one million monthly unique users.
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, 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, its first international edition based in Argentina, directed by journalist Florencia Angilletta, replicating the membership and transparency model.
During the 2020s, elDiario.es consolidated its position among the most-read digital media outlets in Spain and became a reference in academic studies and media organizations.