Madrid papers see 51% sales drop in Catalonia over last five years

In recent years newspapers printed in Madrid have experienced a progressive marginalization process in Catalonia. This can be seen in data from the Office for Justification of Dissemination (OJD), which show how they have been losing market share with respect to the leading papers published in Barcelona. Since 2011, the four main Spanish newspapers --El País, El Mundo, ABC, and La Razón-- have together lost 51.1% of their daily sales (including kiosk sales and individual subscriptions). Part of this decline follows the European and North American trend of constant hemorrhage in print edition sales. But the data from the Madrid newspapers are clearly more negative than those from Catalonia --La Vanguardia, El Periódico, El Punt Avui, and ARA--, which have lost 31.9% during this same period.

In the last year, for example, El Mundo has lost 19.0% of its ordinary sales (comparing the average sales from January to September 2016 with the entire previous year). It's the Spanish newspaper that has lost the most, followed by El País (a 15.8% drop), ABC (12.6%), and La Razón (3.0%). In contrast, the Catalan leaders saw milder losses, led by El Periódico (7.0%), El Punt Avui (5.4%), La Vanguardia (5.1%), and ARA (0.9%).

Thus, El País, which in 2011 sold 32,952 copies, has only managed to sell a daily average of 18,894 in 2016. In the same period, El Mundo plummeted from 10,335 to 4,692. Despite the fact that the Madrid papers are aimed at a much larger market and, as such, have larger budgets, they are losing ground in Catalonia. In 2011, some 16.6% of copies sold each day were general interest newspapers published in Madrid. This year the percentage has dropped to 12.5%, and the trend is towards even greater marginalization.

This difference in behavior between papers from Madrid and Barcelona has occurred at the same time as the independence process has polarized the political narrative between the two capitals.

'La Razón' holds the line

In this scenario, the good results from La Razón stand out, after having trailed the pack for many years. It now hopes to become the second-place seller among Madrid-based newspapers in Catalonia. In fact, it is only 625 copies behind El Mundo, when five years ago the newspaper then led by Pedro J. Ramírez more than doubled the 4,606 copies sold by La Razón. The paper edited by Francisco Marhuenda has lost only 11.7% of its ordinary sales in five years, while ABC has lost 34.3% of copies sold in kiosks and to subscribers in Catalonia, El Mundo 54.6%, and El País some 57.3%, which makes it the newspaper which has suffered the most during this five-year period.

In fact, when you look at the data for the two main Spanish papers, El País and El Mundo, you realize that both are in serious trouble: in one year, they have lost 12.3% and 15.4% of ordinary sales, respectively, in Spain. But it is in Catalonia where they have suffered their greatest losses (15.8% and 19.0%). Both newspapers have appointed new directors to manage their newsrooms during this five-year period --El Mundo has hired up to three-- but this has not stopped the drop in sales.