ABC

tabloid daily newspaper published in Madrid and long regarded as one of Spain's leading papers. It was founded as a weekly in 1903 by a distinguished journalist, Torcuato Luca de Tena y Alvarez-Ossorio, who later (1929) was made the Marqus de Luca de Tena by King Alfonso XIII in recognition of his accomplishments with ABC. The paper became a daily in 1905 and after 1929 published a Seville edition. ABC was monarchist in orientation from its founding, and during the Spanish Civil War it was taken over by the Republican government-nominally in 1931 and then, after several months' suspension in 1932 and continued resistance to censorship, completely in 1936. It was returned to private control under Franco in 1939 but remained critical of government excesses, although it did support the Franco regime. ABC has always been noted for its graphics; it was a heavy user of photography from its inception, and the front page is typically an action photograph that covers nearly the entire page. In more recent times, the paper has won wide acclaim for its coverage of Spanish culture and the arts.