El Periódico
El Periódico is a Barcelona-based regional Spanish-language newspaper (founded 1978) serving Catalan and Spanish readers with digital-first and print news coverage, vertical sub-brands, podcasts, newsletters, and e-commerce services, operating as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Prensa Ibérica Media.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1978
- HeadquartersBarcelona, Spain
- Headcount51–100
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingDigital Commerce or Content
What El Periódico does
El Periódico is a regional Spanish-language newspaper headquartered in Barcelona, founded in 1978, that operates both a daily print edition and a digital-first news platform covering Catalonia, Spain, and international current affairs. Its core product is the elperiodico.com web property, organized across sections including Politics, Economy, Society, Barcelona-local, Culture, Sports, and Opinion, with a freemium paywall supporting premium digital subscriptions. The company's product portfolio has expanded far beyond the core newsroom: it operates more than a dozen themed vertical sub-brands (Woman, Viajar, Cuore, Recetas, RecetasGratis, Neomotor, Ecología Verde, Experto Animal, Salud, Tendencias 21, Cata Mayor, Activos, Abril), six themed podcasts, three editorial newsletters, an e-commerce/deals platform (Esncial), lottery and classifieds services, and a digital kiosko edition accessible via kiosco.elperiodico.com. The technology stack is a conventional digital news publishing platform delivering web and mobile content with multimedia integration (video, podcasts, photo galleries), a recipe content management system, and third-party distribution via PressReader internationally. The platform is branded across major social networks (Facebook, X, Instagram, LinkedIn) and monetizes through three primary streams: recurring digital subscriptions, display and native "Ofrecido por" sponsored content with advertisers including Santander, Nespresso, Kia, Naturgy, and Banco Sabadell, and ancillary e-commerce transaction revenue. El Periódico serves general news readers in Catalonia and across Spain, with a horizontal segmentation approach addressing local Catalan municipal news (covering 21+ municipalities in the Barcelona metropolitan area and across Catalonia including Tarragona, Girona, Lleida, and others), lifestyle verticals, and broader Spanish and international affairs. The legal entity is El Periódico de Catalunya, S.L.U., a single-member Spanish limited liability company wholly owned by the Prensa Ibérica Media diversified media conglomerate; no funding rounds, equity investors, or IPO activity are disclosed.
El Periódico firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- El Periódico
- Legal name
- El Periódico de Catalunya, S.L.U
- Website
- https://elperiodico.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1978
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 51–100 employees
- Short description
- El Periódico is a Barcelona-based regional Spanish-language newspaper (founded 1978) serving Catalan and Spanish readers with digital-first and print news coverage, vertical sub-brands, podcasts, newsletters, and e-commerce services, operating as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Prensa Ibérica Media.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Where El Periódico is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Barcelona
- HQ country
- Spain
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices1 record
Markets served
El Periódico business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Digital Commerce or Content
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Digital Subscription: Premium digital subscription model offering exclusive content, ad-free reading experience, and full access to all publications and archives. The site features a subscription paywall for premium content.
- Digital Advertising: Display advertising and sponsored content partnerships with brands including Santander, Nespresso, Kia, Naturgy, and Banco Sabadell. The platform features 'Ofrecido por' (Brought to you by) sponsored content sections.
- E-commerce Services: Revenue generation through integrated e-commerce platforms for services including lottery ticket sales and checking services.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Freemium | Monthly | Free access with basic content viewing |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels5 records
El Periódico product offering
Product offeringCore offering
El Periódico is a Catalan/Spanish-language newspaper providing news coverage of Catalunya, Spain, and international current affairs across multiple sections (politics, economy, society, culture, sports, opinion). It operates as a digital-first news platform with a freemium subscription model, alongside a print edition and distributed via kiosks. The portfolio is supplemented by podcasts, newsletters, vertical content channels (Recetas, Woman, Neomotor, Ecología Verde, Experto Animal, Cuore, Viajar, Cata Mayor, Salud, Tendencias 21, Activos, Abril), and e-commerce integrations (lottery, shopping deals via Esncial).
Product overview
El Periódico is a leading Spanish-language digital newspaper operated by Grupo Prensa Ibérica Media, offering comprehensive news coverage of Catalunya, Spain, and international current affairs. The portfolio consists of a core digital newspaper product supplemented by specialized sub-brands and vertical channels covering lifestyle topics (Woman, Viajar), automotive (Neomotor), environment (Ecología Verde), pets (Experto Animal), entertainment (Cuore), gastronomy (Cata Mayor, Recetas), health (Salud), technology (Tendencias 21), and finance (Activos, Abril). Additional offerings include a podcast network with six thematic shows, three newsletter products, a shopping platform (Esncial), and a lottery service section.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- El Periódico (digital newspaper with subscription) Leading Spanish-language digital newspaper providing 24/7 news coverage of Catalunya, Spain, and international current affairs across politics, economy, society, culture, sports, and opinion; available via freemium and premium subscription tiers.
- El Periódico Print Edition Physical newspaper distributed through Spanish kiosks and newsstands, with digital PDF replica and archive access via kiosco.elperiodico.com for subscribers and kiosk buyers.
- El Periódico Podcast Network Collection of six thematic podcasts covering celebrity gossip, Barcelona culture, current events, books, parenting, and mystery content, distributed alongside the El Periódico brand to readers and audio subscribers.
- El Periódico Newsletter Portfolio Email newsletters offering daily news analysis, curated top stories, and gender-focused content for subscribers, led by named El Periódico editors.
- Recetas (Recipe platform) Recipe platform under the El Periódico sub-brand with over 20,000 step-by-step cooking recipes covering appetizers, rice dishes, meat, fish, desserts, and beverages, targeted at general home cooks.
- Esncial (Shopping and deals) Shopping and consumer deals platform integrated into the El Periódico site, surfacing e-commerce content, promotional offers, and curated deals to drive user engagement and ancillary commission revenue.
- Lotería de Navidad (Lottery service) Integrated lottery service on El Periódico covering the Spanish Lotería de Navidad, including ticket checking and related sales/promotional functionality, generating ancillary e-commerce revenue.
Companies that use El Periódico
Customer profileSegments1 record
Ideal customer profiles1 record
El Periódico technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
El Periódico partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
One partnership is on record.
- Prensa Ibérica MediacoreEl Periódico is owned by El Periódico de Catalunya, S.L.U., which is part of the Prensa Ibérica Media group, one of the largest Spanish regional media companies. This parent company provides operational infrastructure, shared resources, and synergies across its portfolio of regional newspapers and digital publications throughout Spain.
Scale indicators1 record
Recent moves5 records
Expansion highlights5 records
El Periódico competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- La Vanguardia: Barcelona-based Spanish-language newspaper covering Catalan, Spanish, and international news. Closest direct competitor to El Periódico in the Catalan regional news market, with similar digital subscription, advertising, and sub-brand strategies.
- 20minutos: Free Spanish digital-first general news outlet covering Spain and international affairs. Direct peer to El Periódico’s free, ad-supported news tier; competes for the same online reader attention and programmatic ad inventory in Spain.
- Ara (newspaper): Catalan-language digital and print newspaper based in Barcelona. Competes head-to-head with El Periódico for Catalan-speaking readers, regional advertisers, and subscribers in the local market.
- La Razón: Spanish national daily with digital subscription and advertising businesses. Overlaps with El Periódico on general news, opinion, and culture verticals, and competes for Spanish digital ad and subscription dollars.
- El Correo: Basque regional newspaper and fellow Prensa Ibérica Media title. Directly comparable in regional focus, multi-vertical sub-brand portfolio, and freemium digital subscription model, making it a strong internal benchmark.
- La Voz de Galicia: Leading regional Spanish newspaper with strong digital presence, owned by Prensa Ibérica Media. Sister publication within the same parent group; highly comparable in business model, vertical sub-brand structure, and regional-news positioning.
Broad incumbents
- El País: Spain's flagship national digital newspaper with broad general-news, politics, business, culture, and sports coverage. Competes with El Periódico for Spanish-language digital subscribers, advertising, and national/international news readership, though its scale and reach are significantly larger.
- El Mundo: Major Spanish national daily with comprehensive digital coverage and a similar multi-vertical structure (sports, economy, culture). Competes with El Periódico for national ad budgets and overlapping Spanish-speaking digital subscribers.
- ABC (newspaper): Spanish national daily newspaper with a long print heritage transitioning to digital subscriptions. Comparable in business model (subscriptions + advertising + sub-brands) and target market (Spanish-speaking general news readers).
Regional players
- Regió7: Catalan local/regional newspaper covering the Bages-Moianès area. Smaller than El Periódico but directly comparable in regional Catalan focus and local-news content model, occasionally partnering or competing for hyperlocal coverage.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
El Periódico social profiles
Digital presenceEl Periódico financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
El Periódico leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
El Periódico subsidiaries and ownership
Company hierarchySubsidiaries12 records
El Periódico funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
El Periódico M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about El Periódico
What does El Periódico do?
El Periódico is a Catalan/Spanish-language newspaper providing news coverage of Catalunya, Spain, and international current affairs across multiple sections (politics, economy, society, culture, sports, opinion). It operates as a digital-first news platform with a freemium subscription model, alongside a print edition and distributed via kiosks. The portfolio is supplemented by podcasts, newsletters, vertical content channels (Recetas, Woman, Neomotor, Ecología Verde, Experto Animal, Cuore, Viajar, Cata Mayor, Salud, Tendencias 21, Activos, Abril), and e-commerce integrations (lottery, shopping deals via Esncial).
Is El Periódico a public or private company?
El Periódico is a private company. It is classified as corporate owned and is currently operating.
When was El Periódico founded?
El Periódico was founded in 1978. It employs 51 to 100 people.
Where is El Periódico based?
El Periódico is headquartered in Barcelona, Spain, in the Europe region.
How does El Periódico make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. Digital Subscription is the primary driver. The others are digital Advertising and E-commerce Services.
Who are El Periódico's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are La Vanguardia, 20minutos, Ara (newspaper), La Razón, El Correo and La Voz de Galicia. Broad incumbents are El País, El Mundo and ABC (newspaper). Regió7 is listed as a regional player.
Does El Periódico have an API?
No public API is recorded for El Periódico.