January 2007

CENTENARY NEWSPAPERS.
LAS PROVINCIAS

Las Provincias is a highly respected newspaper which is over 100 years old. It is the oldest newspaper in the Valencia region, having first been published on 31 January 1866 as a result of changes in the ownership of the La Opinión newspaper, which was first published in Valencia in 1860. The La Opinión newspaper was owned by the banker José Campo, who appointed the journalist and poet Teodoro Llorente Olivares as its editor in 1861. Llorente Olivares would be the founder, first editor and owner of Las Provincias, together with the printer José Doménech, who was succeeded on his death in 1879 by his son, Federico.

According to its manifesto when first published, the newspaper, which managed to survive historical turmoil such as the First Republic, the First Carlist War, the Republican Uprising of 1869 and the reign of Amadeo de Saboya, defined itself as being independent, respecting the Crown and being a defender of the interests of the people of Valencia.

In 1916, when Las Provincias had been in existence for 50 years, significant changes were made in the printing and design of the newspaper, which became longer and larger, although it was not until 1931 that, in addition to using gravure printing, it began to be printed in the format that we know today. As with most publications, Las Provincias did not escape the consequences of the Civil War. It was seized from its owners by anarchist trade unions. At the end of the Civil War, in 1939, it reduced the number of its pages owing to the shortage of paper. In 1956 the newspaper started to publish photographs. In October 1957 the newspaper was hit by the catastrophic floods that affected Valencia and its graphic archives were destroyed. A year later the newspaper acquired a new printing press. Since then, Las Provincias has continued to modernise and to invest in new technology. In the 1980s computers replaced its old machines and today it is published using the latest multimedia technology. The newspaper's premises have also been kept up to date, and today are known as the Las Provincias Multimedia building where, in addition to the newspaper, there is a radio and a television station. This newspaper is the oldest in the Valencia region. The stamp shows the newspaper's masthead and includes the anagram of the 140th anniversary of its first publication.