JAN MARTÍNEZ AHRENS IS PROPOSED AS EDITOR-IN-CHIEF OF EL PAÍS

• Martínez Ahrens is an outstanding reporter with proven leadership skills and a global vision.
• “Jan is one of our own, a superb reporter and a staunch practitioner of the true hallmarks of good journalism: rigor, independence, pluralism, and on-the-ground reporting,” said EL PAÍS Chair Joseph Oughourlian.
• The Board has expressed its gratitude to Pepa Bueno for these past four years: “Pepa leaves EL PAÍS with over 400,000 subscribers and six editions in the Americas. Her tenure has consolidated the newspaper’s strategic transformation.”
• Pilar Gil, CEO of EL PAÍS and PRISA Media: “We continue to move forward with our plan to be the global reference for Spanish-language news and entertainment for all generations, based on freedom and independence.”

The Board of Directors of EL PAÍS has agreed to begin the process of appointing a new editor-in-chief for the newspaper. EL PAÍS Chairperson Joseph Oughourlian has proposed Jan Martínez Ahrens to succeed Pepa Bueno, who has served as editor-in-chief since July 2021. The succession, in accordance with EL PAÍS’s Editorial Statute, was communicated this Wednesday to the Newsroom Committee and will be subject to a consultative vote by the newspaper’s staff. Once the consultation results have been received, the EL PAÍS Board of Directors will proceed to formalize the appointment.

Jan Martínez Ahrens joined the newspaper in 1992, in the Valencia region. After a remarkable and successful trajectory spanning multiple sections, positions, and countries, he has been Editor-in-Chief of EL PAÍS in the Americas since 2020.

The Board of Directors has thanked Pepa Bueno for her commitment and dedication: “Pepa leaves EL PAÍS with over 400,000 subscribers and six editions in the Americas. Her tenure has been key in consolidating the newspaper’s strategic transformation.”


Martínez Ahrens, an Outstanding Reporter with Proven Leadership Skills and a Global Vision

Jan Martínez Ahrens holds a degree in Philosophy and a Master’s in Journalism from UAM–EL PAÍS. He also has a PDD from IESE Business School, is a fellow of the German Marshall Fund of the United States, and took classes from Gabriel García Márquez at the Fundación Nuevo Periodismo Iberoamericano.

He began his journalism career at Diario 16 and, in 1992, joined EL PAÍS — first in the Valencia region and then in Madrid as a crime and local news reporter and section chief. He later became Managing Editor of the Social Issues section, during a period when the newspaper was at the forefront of covering gender violence and social rights.

In 2006, he was appointed Editor of the Sunday edition and later of General News. During this period, he played a fundamental role in obtaining, coordinating, and publishing the 250,000 secret U.S. Department of State documents leaked by Wikileaks and the Guantánamo Papers—over 700 confidential reports on prisoner abuses at the U.S. base. In both cases, the initiative was carried out alongside other major international news media.

In 2014, he coordinated the Chinaleaks case at EL PAÍS, which, based on documentation obtained by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, exposed the massive use of tax havens by China’s Communist elite.

That same year, Martínez Ahrens became correspondent in Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean. In this region, he covered the Ayotzinapa tragedy and the escape and capture of El Chapo. He was also executive producer of a comic-book narrative about gangs in Honduras that won the Gabriel García Márquez Award for Innovation, granted by the Fundación Nuevo Periodismo Iberoamericano.

In early 2017, he was named Chief Correspondent in the United States. There, he covered the first presidency of Donald Trump and received the award for Best Spanish Correspondent Abroad from the International Press Club.

From June 2018, he served as Deputy Editor in Madrid. Amid the transformation toward a digital subscription model, he oversaw coverage of current events, including two general elections and the enormous editorial and reporting challenge posed by the pandemic.

Since October 2020, he has been editor-in-chief of EL PAÍS in the Americas, where he has interviewed numerous Latin American presidents such as Claudia Sheinbaum, Lula da Silva, Gabriel Boric, and Gustavo Petro. Under his leadership, the newspaper has experienced a successful continental expansion with six editions (Americas, Mexico, Colombia, Chile, and United States in both Spanish and English) and has become a pillar of global news and information.

In recognition of this effort, EL PAÍS América received the 2022 World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers Award for Best News Site in Latin America. The jury singled out the publication from among 120 competing projects and praised it for “its continental approach, and for expanding newsrooms and strengthening coverage with the goal of offering Latin American readers global information — while upholding principles of independence and rigor. It tackles the most important news events in each country, through journalists and a broad network of reporters and analysts who are world leaders in the media.”

In recent years, the newspaper has stood out in the Americas for its coverage of major regional events, on-the-ground reporting, and firm defense of human rights and democracy in an especially turbulent area. The latest initiative in the region was the launch of a U.S. edition (in Spanish) ahead of the U.S. presidential elections, a project intended to be the voice of Latinos during a period of setbacks and persecution of migrants.


Internal Talent and Founding Values as EL PAÍS Celebrates Its 50th Anniversary

According to EL PAÍS’s Chairperson, “Jan is one of our own, a superb reporter and a staunch practitioner of the true hallmarks of good journalism: rigor, independence, pluralism, and on-the-ground reporting. What’s more, his experience in the Americas — first as Chief Correspondent in the United States and then as Editor of EL PAÍS in the Americas — is key to ensuring our newspaper’s relevance at a time when the global geostrategic landscape drives the news both there and in Europe.”

Meanwhile, Pilar Gil, CEO of EL PAÍS and PRISA Media, reiterated the message she gave at her appointment: “We continue to move forward with our plan to be the global reference for Spanish-language news and entertainment for all generations, based on freedom and independence. Jan’s drive, his self-imposed high standards, courage, and commitment to the reader and to the broader project that we champion will allow us to accelerate the transformation of our news coverage and content, improve our reach to new audiences, and reaffirm the relevance and necessity of well-crafted journalism in these uncertain times.”

Moreover, Gil wanted to point out that now, as the newspaper turns 50, the relevance of EL PAÍS's founding declaration, approved at the general shareholders' meeting in March 1977, is striking. "It states that EL PAÍS must be a liberal, independent newspaper, socially supportive, national, European, and attentive to the changes occurring in Western society; understanding 'liberal' as being willing to understand and listen to others, even if they think differently, and not accepting that the end justifies the means. If we add America to this declaration, our passion for America and our commitment to its citizens — we define the newspaper we must champion today.”

She continued: “In keeping with EL PAÍS’s founding principles, I am confident that Jan’s leadership, experience, and innovative spirit will allow us to preserve the best of our history, reaffirm our purpose, and navigate geopolitical instability and technological change with the highest-quality information for our subscribers, readers, and new audiences who deserve a media brand worthy of this complex world — regardless of the media format they choose.


Eighth Editor-in-Chief of EL PAÍS

In its 49-year history, EL PAÍS has had seven editors-in-chief: Juan Luis Cebrián (1976–1988), Joaquín Estefanía (1988–1993), Jesús Ceberio (1993–2006), Javier Moreno (in two terms: 2006–2014 and 2020–2021), Antonio Caño (2014–2018), Soledad Gallego Díaz (2018–2020), and Pepa Bueno (2021–2025).

Pepa Bueno (Badajoz, 1963) began her career at RNE’s news services, went on to RTVE where she ended up directing and presenting the second edition of the newscast, and in 2012 joined Cadena SER. In 2019, she was named director of the nighttime news program Hora 25 until, in July 2021, she took charge of EL PAÍS. Throughout her extensive career, Pepa Bueno has received numerous awards, including the Micrófono de Oro, the Media Tenor Award for Best Newscast in the World, a Premio Ondas, the Francisco Cerecedo Journalism Award, the Salvador de Madariaga European Journalism Award, the Manu Leguineche International Journalism Award, and the Agustín Merello Award from the Cádiz Press Association.