Opening the Catalan way on Substack, the platform for those who like to read

Barcelona"I deleted Tinder and Instagram and downloaded Substack #summer", I read in a post. Substack is a platform that, in fact, demands time. The posts that are uploaded there, and that are also sent as an email newsletter to subscribers, are sheets full of information, references, and data, especially if they are paid. And since it increasingly contains a more extensive and diverse offer, your linked readings and emails multiplyto the inbox. "I'm joining Substack because I missed blogs. It's the network for those looking for a new space, more depth, less noise, less presence of the turbo-fascist companies that have been taking over and conditioning how we interact on X, Instagram, and Facebook," says writer and comedian Maria Rovira.

Since its founding in San Francisco in 2017, Substack has become the most popular platform to create long-form content and to access independent, specialized information on current affairs, culture, technology, finance, and media. Hundreds of professors and analysts from the Anglo-Saxon world, and major cultural figures (from George Saunders to Patti Smith, Pamela Anderson, Ottessa Moshfegh, or Miranda July), have found in this channel a way to address their community directly, often through texts that have an stylistic aspiration or, at least, personality. Here authors do not depend on the demand of the clickbait of Google Discover, nor are they victims of X's wild algorithm, nor of TikTok's fragmentation. And above all: authors can monetize their knowledge and talent through direct reader subscriptions (which are generally low, from 5 to 15 euros per month). There are more than 60 authors who earn over a million euros, according to Substack. Major traditional media outlets have moved there, and best-selling essayists are also there: one of the latest additions is Naomi Klein.

For Substack fans, here is the sizzle of constructive debate, AI-free writing, direct author-subscriber relationship, and the possibility of making money. "I imagine this space as a combination of a large round table, the post-talk conversation (which is at least as good as the talk itself), and a very participatory seminar," Klein writes in the inaugural post. He has started posting free content, but will charge 6 euros. He got 60,000 subscribers in two weeks. Do the math.

"The big draw is that it gives us writers complete control over the content – explains the economist, professor and columnist for Kapital, Joan Tubau, with 22,000 subscribers—. With Substack, I reach my reader directly. It's a model that threatens newspapers. As a reader, I find that information is a commodity and that I want to pay for quality analysis and opinion, and for some reports by journalists eager to find a good story. Substack gives all these professionals the opportunity to create a business model for themselves outside the newspaper structure. It's a winner-takes-all model. What we are already seeing is (a few) millionaire journalists and many who will be replaced by AI," predicts Tubau.

An expansion, also linguistic

Figures in the English-speaking world are constantly rising and validating the business model – Substack has 5 million paying subscribers, of whom the platform keeps 10% – to the point where some predict the end of traditional media (which, incidentally, has also entered Substack). In Europe, however, the platform's popularity has been slower and more uneven, whether because there is more linguistic diversity or because there is less of a subscription culture. Many authors are amateurs or professionals who use it merely as a free showcase for their work and to maintain contact with their community. In sectors such as technology and finance, however, exclusive content is offered in Spanish at a price ranging from 300 to 600 euros per month.

Aware that it can be exploited, in February 2026 Substack opened offices in nine new European countries. "In Europe, 90 million euros have been generated in the first quarter alone from direct subscriptions, and in Spain we already have more than 150,000 paying subscribers," Marcos García, the platform's first manager in the country, tells ARA. Spain is in the top 5 countries where the platform is growing the most. Furthermore, since July, Substack has incorporated integrated translation for fifteen languages, including Catalan. That is to say, thanks to AI translation, all the platform's content can be read in Catalan, and original content in Catalan (and 100 other languages) can be read in English, similar to what has happened on X. The interface is also in Catalan.

"Without a doubt, what is local is the best window to offer something unique; we see it in music," says García, surely thinking of Bad Bunny. For him, the key to success on Substack is "what you have to explain, your voice, your unique perspective, your knowledge on a specific topic, or your original opinion on certain issues," he affirms, and gives the intimate articles of Rosalía as an example. Substack allows for articles, podcasts, videos, live chats, and feeding a wall with notes – one of the reasons for the open war with X and complaints about the use of soft algorithms –, but what matters is what is said, not the design. "It's a platform for sharing niche content, but with a few readers who are willing to pay. The most read blogs on Substack are super specific," explains Tubau, citing the long tail strategy (minority products can add up to more than bestsellers if they are united in a large distribution channel).

Return the long format

In recent years, we have turned our digital experience into an endless race marked by scrolling, rapid consumption, the need to feed an algorithm we see as a necessary evil, and a battle for the misnamed attention economy. They have wanted to convince us that the important thing is to say it short and fast and to generate constant noise. And that vanity metrics (likes, followers, number of plays, etc.) are what value our way of being online. But we have forgotten something very simple: that the qualitative experience we had online served us to discover, learn, and connect with each other. There is another way to learn, inform ourselves, and enjoy in a more calm and profound way," assures the head of Substack in Spain.

Substack is not conceived strictly as a social network, but rather as the evolution of blogs from the 2000s. "For me, it's like recovering the internet of the past, but with a much simpler and well-resolved management of subscribers and fees. I believe that newsletters have a great future," explains the ARA technologist Albert Cuesta who, now that he can live his life in Catalan, will set out to exploit the platform's potential, will set up a paywall, and will create other thematic communities there.

"Substack right now is my base of operations, it fulfills many functions and all of them are in favor of my will to earn a living as a writer –says the cook and writer Maria Nicolau, who has 4,700 subscribers, quite an achievement in Catalan–. It's the space where I have direct interaction with my audience, where I am the master of what I say, without intermediaries. Working in a major media outlet, like TV3 or El País [where she collaborates], gives you great reach, but your voice is constrained by a style guide, an algorithm, an editorial line or by the mental framework of the person who follows that particular medium. On Substack you define your editorial line. You can afford to take more risks, be less normative, scratch the margins, which interests me. Besides, I have this traditional view of thinking that practice leads to mastery. Every day I write and publish it raw", explains Nicolau. Some of her 700 articles have ended up becoming columns, sections or chapters, and it is a process that she also gives to her subscribers. With Substack she keeps them informed of her schedule and her reflections and can monetize the content to continue "being a free voice". "For someone to want to pay what some potatoes and olives would cost in a bar, you have to offer something that is worth it", states Nicolau.