Polanco, Jesus de

▪ 2008

Jesús de Polanco Gutiérrez 

      Spanish media mogul

born Nov. 7, 1929, Madrid, Spain

died July 21, 2007, Madrid

cofounded Spain's most popular daily newspaper, El País, and built the media empire Promotora de Informaciones SA (PRISA), becoming one of the most powerful and influential men in the country and an ally of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE). Polanco founded the textbook-publishing company Editorial Santillana in 1958. When the government introduced a complete change of curriculum in 1970, Polanco positioned the company to be the only one able to supply the needed textbooks in time. He expanded into Latin America, founding the Timón Group in 1972. Polanco used the profits from his publishing ventures to introduce a liberal newspaper; El País appeared in May 1976, six months after the death of dictator Francisco Franco. PRISA expanded to include newspapers and television and radio stations both in Spain and in Latin America.

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