September 2004

"Diarios Centenarios"

Another stamp has been issued in the Centenarian Newspapers series, this time dedicated to the Heraldo de Aragón, a newspaper first printed 109 years ago.

The first edition of the Heraldo de Aragón was published on 20 September 1895 and printed at the workshops of Emilio Casañal, while the publisher's offices at that time could be found in Calle Cuatro de Agosto. The newspaper moved its publishing, printing and offices to the current site at Paseo de Independencia number 29 in 1931, though given the newspaper's growth and evolution and the modernisation of the printing process, it needed move its printing presses to Calle Numancia, and 1988 saw the installation of a Koening-Bauer Express-60 rotary press at the Valdefierro industrial estate. The Heraldo Group now has a new rotary press, a Koening-Bauer Comet, the latest generation of entirely computer-controlled presses that can print up to 70,000 colour copies per hour. This new printing and distribution equipment, which has been in operation at the Villanueva de Gállego industrial estate since 2003, was inaugurated by the King and Queen of Spain. The same site houses a museum, newspaper library, exhibition room and audiovisual presentations. The museum recounts the newspaper's story from its founding to the present day, and also shows a number of machines used in the actual printing process, such as typesetting equipment and binding machines.

The Heraldo de Aragón, an independent publication that is committed both to its own readers and to the advancement of city of Aragón, has remained true to its original premise since the day on which it was founded in 1985. It belongs to the Heraldo de Aragón S.A. group of companies, which includes the Heraldo de Huesca, the Heraldo de Teruel, the Heraldo de Soria and the Heraldo de Castellón. It also owns the DASA distribution company, the news agency GABESA and the distribution agency TODESA. The Heraldo de Aragón S.A. group of companies has shares in other businesses in and outside the media sector, both regionally and throughout Spain.

The stamp depicts part of the large mural that adorns the foyer of the Heraldo's premises in Villanueva de Gállego. This composition was completed under the supervision of the artist Teodoro Albareda at the workshops of the Fundación Federico Ozanam, and it consists of more than 5,000 letters, numbers and wooden and metal templates, used in the past for poster printing.