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June 10, 2004updated 17 May 2007 11:30am

Spanish paper to target tourists and residents

By Press Gazette

An English language daily newspaper launches in Barcelona next week.

Catalonia Today plans to publish next Tuesday with an initial print run of 35,000.

The paper will be distributed throughout Catalonia as part of a tiein with the Catalan daily El Punt.

Editor Stephen Burgen, who is The Times’s correspondent in Barcelona, explained that El Punt was offering office space, unlimited access to its newsdesk and help in distribution.

The financial backers have guaranteed three years for the project to become a profit-making business.

Managing editor Carles Puigdemont hopes for a quicker success: “Ever since we produced the dummy, the response has been fantastic.

People have been waiting for this and obviously we’re doing it because we think there are some serious economic incentives.”

The era of the low-cost flight has seen a boom in visitors to Barcelona.

The paper hopes to attract not only these tourists but also the 10,000 longterm English-speaking residents in the region.

Burgen, who dovetails his work as editor of Catalonia Today with his work for The Times, has also worked for The Guardian, The Independent, and The Evening Standard.

By Ryan Chandler in Barcelona

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