The first newspaper printed in the city was the “Gaceta de Madrid,” which was founded in 1661. It was first issued annually as a news-sheet, but in 1667 the journal appeared each Saturday. The title of the paper was frequently changed, and at one time it was the official organ of the Court, and sold on the account of “the king our lord.” Later, the “Gaceta” was issued twice a week, and in 1808 it was made a daily publication. With one or two interruptions, the “Gaceta” has been printed in Madrid since 1661.
The pioneer of modern journalism was Don Francisco Mariano Nifo, who started the “Diario” in 1758. Nifo sold the journal in 1759, and the title was altered to the “Diario noticioso Universal,” and later, to its present title, “Diario official de Avisos de Madrid.” In 1825 the “Diario” became an official newspaper by royal decree.
The establishment of political journalism dates from 1806; the “Imparcial” was then founded, as well as many other journals which had short histories. The present “El Imparcial” dates from 1867, and “La Correspondencia” and “El Dia” began to be issued about the same time. “La Epoca” was born in 1848.
The more solid reviews published in Madrid are the “Lectura,” and the “Ateneo.” “España Moderna,” “Nuestro Tiempo,” “Cultura,” and “Blanco y Negro,” a well illustrated magazine, are produced in Madrid. The city has certainly given birth to a very large number of periodicals, for from 1865 to 1878 no less than 1130 issued from the press.
Students of the literary history of Spain will find many interesting links with the past in the National Library. Here are numerous editions of “Don Quixote,” and a collection of old manuscripts, including a beautiful Visigothic work of the tenth century, and the “Siete Partidas” of Alfonso the Wise. There are several autographs of Lope de Vega and other Spanish authors in the collection.
Among the monumental remains of Madrid there is scarcely a memory of the Moorish days. In the church of San Pedro we shall find an example of _Mudejar_ architecture, that is, the work of the “reconciled” Moriscos, who remained in Spain down to the final expulsion. San Pedro dates from the fourteenth or fifteenth century, and is the oldest church in the city. The tower is square and plain, in the Moorish form, with small windows.