Antonio Franco Estadella (21 January 1947 – 23 September 2021) was a Spanish journalist. He served two times as editor-in-chief of El Periódico de Catalunya. He also worked as deputy editor of El País and as editor of its
Catalan-language edition.
Biography
Antonio Franco Estadella was born on 17 January 1947 in
Barcelona,[1] in a family with origins from
Lleida[2] (his grandfather was Mayor of Lleida and member of Joventut Republicana).[1][3] After dropping out of a degree in economics, he earned a degree as journalist at the Escuela de Periodismo de la Iglesia in 1968.[4][5] He was a member of the Anti-Francoist
Grup Democràtic de Periodistes [
es].[4] First editor of El Periódico de Catalunya, founded in 1978, he served in that post until 1982.[6] He was hired by El País in 1982,[7] helping to launch the Catalan-language edition. He returned to the helm of El Periódico in 1988, retiring in 2006.[8][9]
Franco used to define himself as a left-wing person, and, in 2014, he embraced
Guanyem Barcelona, which he described as "that necessary political and social force capable of transforming reality, from the left".[10][6]
He died from cancer on 25 September 2021, in Barcelona.[3]