Into the Heart of Corazón
Go on, admit it. You might regard Spain’s gossip press with great disdain, but you can’t keep your eyes off copies of ¡Hola! and you never miss an episode of Aquí Hay Tomate. Josh McDowell feels the same, so he decided to dish the dirt on the prensa rosa.
This isn’t an easy thing to admit, but here goes. During a holiday in Galicia, I was confined to my room thanks to rough spring weather. Instead of losing myself in the classic literature I had brought with me, I eagerly thumbed through the trashy gossip magazines I had found on the night table next to my bed. I know, it’s shameful. It seems though that I’m not the only one with a weakness for la prensa rosa. Gossip, in all its forms, is one of the largest media sectors in Spain. Its subject matter ranges from the royal family’s latest choice of holiday destination, to the new lover of a popular bullfighter—and, of course, all the dirtiest secrets of the hottest stars on the scene. Within the last decade, the tabloid sector has experienced a feverish increase in publications, television programmes and popularity. But just why is it so big in Spain?
Ask the average Spaniard that question and the answer is clear: gossiping, it seems, is something of a national pastime. For the evidence, look no further than the massively successful Aquí No Hay Quien Viva, a comedy on Antena 3 in which the blabber of the building’s inner patio drives the drama and the laughs. Indeed, in Spain we tend to live on top of each other, making it easier to meddle in the lives of our neighbours—especially when temperatures rise and windows are flung open for the duration of the sweltering summer.
The Roots of the Spanish Tabloids
The rise of the gossip press can be traced back to the last years of the dictatorship, when the radio shows and magazines Ecos de Sociedad and Crónicas de Sociedad followed the lives of emerging artists and aristocracy. The aim was to stimulate the entertainment sector and encourage investment by generating interest in the people involved. It was a simple way of promoting a new play, album or celebrity by delving into a little bit of personal gossip.
After Franco’s death, the press gained more freedom, and early forms of the magazines with which we are now so familiar started to appear. In the 1980s, the delightfully named Bla Bla Bla was launched, and then in the 90s ¡Qué me dices! Arrived, ushering in the kind of sensationalist journalism we are used to doday. Perhaps the most surprising development is the role and the ubiquity of gossip programmes on today’s TV shows. Since 1993, an average of two new gossip shows has been added every year to the existing line-up. In a recent article in El Mundo, several professional tabloid reporters cited the programme Aquí Hay Tomate as the “CNN of corazón,” a statement somewhat undermined by its host Jorge Javier Vázquez, who went on to say: “We never give more than four seconds of good news in our show.”
The Tabloid Targets
While most countries have a similar sector, Spain’s differs in that it is curiously introverted, focusing on its own minor celebs—or famosillos—who all tend to originate from the entertainment industry or the world of sport—especially bullfighting. The Spanish royal family is reported on heavily, but in a very bland manner. Instead of digging out any skeletons in the regal closets, reporting focuses instead on what they wore to the last royal appointment. This respect stems from the role King Juan Carlos played in the transition from Franco’s dictatorship to the current democracy—a far cry from the regular barracking and intrusion that the British royal family has to endure.
The celebrity cast of the prensa rosa is essentially divided into three groups, based on importance, respect and credibility. A-list celebs are normally official figures, or members of the royal family. Take Princess Letizia, for example, who is rapidly becoming the first member of the royals to suffer at the hands of the press after recent criticism and speculation about her anorexic appearance. B-list comprises a broad group of singers, actors and musicians. Some, like Isabel Pantoja, were once famous for their careers in entertainment. But as their behaviour towards—and relationship with—the tabloid press changed, so did the reasons for their notoriety. Lovingly dubbed “La Plantoja,” she is constantly in and out of the press, most recently thanks to her lover Julián Muñoz, who was implicated in one of the largest real-estate scandals Spain has seen. C-list celebs are a strange mix of people, who get their 15 minutes of fame from minor television exposure: they are famous for being famous. The classic example here is Belén Esteban, a TV personality known for having been the girlfriend of the bullfighter Jesulín. The ranks of this group have swelled enormously in recent years thanks to the huge explosion of programmes such as Big Brother, Survivor and Hotel Glam, where nobodies, little-known “personalities” and has-beens mix in an attempt to entertain.
When the Tabloids Turn
But while some of these “celebrities” benefit from the interest the tabloids take in them, it’s not always a positive experience. Take Yurena for example, a Basque pop singer who has performed under the names of Tamara, Mar and Ámbar. From a young age, she dreamt of becoming famous. So in the late 90s, after performing and recording some demos in Bilbao, she moved to Madrid to pursue her dream. Some well-known producers, notably Nacho Canut from Fangoria, started working with her and she released a pop album. She quickly hit the number one spot in the charts with her song “A por tí”.
Talking excusively to InMadrid, she told of her experience with the prensa rosa. “They tried to crush me when I hit nuber one. I surpassed some major stars in the Top 40, such as Madonna, U2 and Alejandro Sanz, whose producers all wanted their investments protected.” Indeed, her life, careeer, and talent were put under intense scrutiny by just about everyone in the tabloids. Yurena’s participation in several corazón programmes and reality shows didn’t get her the positive response she was looking for, and she came in for a lot of flak. As there was already another female vocalist out there called Tamara, she became “Tamara the bad”. She has since retired from the music scene to open a bar in Malasaña, leaving behind the fickle world of the pink press.
Yet there was nothing unusual about her rise to stardom—it’s a normal part of the sector. Stars have agents who make deals with producers from TV shows and magazine editors to show off their house, talk about recent events and even spread rumours about those in their circles. Each one is protected by contracts that outline the contents of each show or interview. The press then reap the benefits from the advertisers and the public, while the stars get the publicity and the lucrative deals that accompany it. In other words, they are all one big, interdependent family. So next time you hear a C-list celebrity such as Belén Esteban cursing the press intrusion that blights their lives, just remember: they wouldn’t make a living without it.
McDowell, Josh. (2006). Into the Heart of Corazón. In Madrid.
7.5MULTIPLE CHOICE TEST (5 x 1.5 = 7.5 marks)
Choose the alternative (a, b, or c) which best completes the following sentences according to the text on the opposite page.
- The author of the article...
a)...cannot help browsing through the tabloids whenever he comes across them.
b)...has no interest whatsoever in any genre other than classic literature.
c)...is addicted to gossip press publications and gossip programmes on TV.
- Tabloids are extremely popular in Spain...
a)...because of the high temperatures that are reached in the summer.
b)...because Spaniards are inclined to meddle in other people’s affairs.
c)...thanks to the intense expectation created by programmes such as Big Brother.
- During Franco’s regime, the role of the tabloids was...
a)...to help destitute celebrities earn a living.
b)...to promote entertainers and increase investment in the arts sector.
c)...to set a standard of behaviour and fine taste.
- All members of the Spanish royal family...
a)...are discussed with mild taste and hardly ever criticised.
b)...are reported on with proper attention and admiration.
c)...enjoy the same kind of respect as those of the British royal family.
- The Spanish gossip press...
a)...is a business whose chief beneficiaries are minor celebrities.
b)...is a profitable business in which celebs and journalists support one another.
c)...deals mainly with large scandals in the entertainment sector.