Story and photos by Marissa Rayes

Fado is a certain type of genre of music that is very popular in Portugal. The song can be about anything from love to despair or just about Lisbon in general.

People in Portugal will first attend a Fado show, go for drinks after the show then head to the discotheque. Fados e Folclore was dimly lit when we arrived, which added to the mood of the show. People aren’t allowed to smoke in the place because it could affect the singers’ voices.

First things first: something to eat while we waited for the performers. Appetizers including plates of cheese, sausage and olives were served before the performers began. After they finished their part of the performance, the next course was served. The meal that night included bean soup, chicken and potatoes and a bowl of flan for dessert. Port wine and water were the beverages of the night.

Dancers in classical Portugal costumes —  women in colorful, peasant-like dresses and men in vests, bright-colored trousers with suspenders, and flat black hats — filled the stage.

The male singers and female singers, dressed in formal outfits, all performed three songs each accompanied by three male musicians. Some songs that were performed seemed to be upbeat, while others were more depressing. It was hard to tell the actual meaning of their songs because of the language barrier. While a man was warming up on his instrument, he played a cord or two from the United States’ “The Star Spangled Banner.”

The crowd seemed enamored with the final gentleman who performed. He raised a white napkin and began waving it in the air. The crowd joined him in the action as if it was a normal thing to do. As a finale, they chose people from the crowd – including Alicia Greene, Rilyn Gancia and Kim Prelosky from our group – to go on stage and join in a wedding dance with the performers. The people chosen danced and carried flower covered hoops in a circle on the stage, passing by a professional photographer who captured the experience for them.

“The Fado Show was a unique experience. Although I couldn’t understand what was being sung by the beautiful singers, the folktale/storytelling part of the show was a bit clearer,” Kariann Mano, a student on the trip, said. “I liked how the show blended music, dancing and singing. It was awesome seeing some of our students dance in the “wedding” — What a treat!”

Finally, all the performers came back on stage to take their final bow. They seemed to be wellknown by the crowd as they went crazy over this Fado show, and the Point Park students considered themselves lucky to experience the event that unfolded before them.

Story and photos Sara Payne

RTP Director of International and Public Relations Joao Lopes de Araujo presents to the International Media class.

With the unemployment rate as high as 30 percent in Portugal following the economic crisis, the people have used their creativity to start overcoming the vast financial issues. Radio e Televisao de Portugal, the country’s public broadcaster, is doing its best to innovate and overcome the same obstacles.

RTP was founded in 1957 and is 100 percent owned by the Portuguese state. It is supported by license fees and income from advertising and sponsorship. Each household paying for electricity also pays 2.65 euros per month toward RTP’s operations.

Because of the severe financial situation, RTP stopped receiving funding from the Portuguese government in January 2014, according to Director of International and Public Relations Joao Lopes de Araujo.

RTP currently has eight TV channels and eight radio channels. There are two free to air TV channels, two thematic cable channels, two regional channels for Madeira Island and the Azores Islands, an international channel and a channel for those in African countries.

In order to stay in operation, RTP has had to show the Portuguese people the importance of their public broadcaster. Not to forget, the class learned, the good content throughout its channels.

“Public service doesn’t have to mean boring,” de Araujo said. “It can be interesting.”

In order to maintain an audience to fund itself, RTP has to think of popular programs. As a public broadcaster, RTP must meet certain quality measurements that private companies do not.

“We have a difficult situation to balance,” de Araujo said.

Despite needing the revenue from advertising sales, RTP is only allowed to have six minutes of commercials per hour on its first broadcast channel. There are no commercials on the second channel. Yet, private companies are able to have 12 minutes of commercials each hour. This shows the sharp contrast of advertising revenue that is available to RTP compared to its competitors.

The class was able to watch a live broadcast of RTP’s morning show.

RTP has brought on a number of programs to try to boost its numbers. Years ago when the broadcaster first tried to bring the American show “The Price is Right” to Portugal, it was not received well.

But when the country joined the European Union and adopted the euro, citizens were struggling with trying to understand the exchange. “The Price is Right” was aired on RTP once again, but contestants had to change the amounts to the euro. It stuck and has remained popular up until today with the help of a comedic host, de Araujo said.

Younger audiences have also been considered when developing new programming. RTP understands the importance of building a new generation of viewers in order to keep the company alive. De Araujo acknowledged the popularity of the show “Five to Midnight,” created with the U.S. “Tonight Show” and “The Late, Late Show” in mind. The late night talk show featured young, comedic presenters that came closing to touching “the redline.” A double screen was displayed, so viewers could interact live with the show.

The newsroom of RTP is multifunctional as it is used as a studio for broadcasts.

The two oldest buildings in the RTP complex were built between 1960-1966. In 2003, the main building was renovated to hold new TV and radio studios and newsrooms.

The RTP newsroom and main news studio are housed in the same room. This layout allows reporters to quickly take breaking news to anchors. Right now RTP produces and airs about 91 programs from this studio alone: 15 each day and eight on the weekends.  The staff for these news and current affairs programs totals around 200.

On the second floor of this building, RTP has 26 of its radio studios. Each channel has its own studio that is used at all times. The channels include: Antena 1, news and generalist programming; Antena 2, classical and world music; Antena 3, young public radio; two channels in the Madeira Island; and one channel in the Azores Islands.

Antena 2 is the only station that allows the DJs to have total control over their playlists.

“I have about six centuries more or less to choose from,” an Antena 2 DJ said.

By Sara Payne

From shoes to post cards, almost anything can be found made of cork in Portugal. Traveling through the country, it is obvious that the people effectively use what is available to them.

When it comes to food, it’s no different. The Portuguese have a supply of fresh food because of the location and climate of their country.

Along with cork trees, Portugal is home to many olive trees. A typical meal usually starts off with bread and a tray of these salty snacks. Olives are also used in more creative ways such as an olive and orange salad served with roasted duck thigh. The sweetness of the olives is a great match for the saltiness.

Odete Oliveira,the tour guide for our group in Lisbon, said Portuguese cooking style is influenced by the Mediterranean. It includes fresh salads with the typical lettuce and tomato. Salads are often dressed with the ever-present olive oil.

“Our food is very healthy,” she said.

Surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, seafood can be found throughout Portuguese menus. The most popular ocean creature is cod, which the people joke that there is a different way to prepare the fish for each day of the year. A common preparation of balcalhau, or cod, is dried and salted.As seen with salads, simple preparations of cods often involves a drizzling of olive oil.

When it comes to dessert, custard pastries are found in every nook and cranny. Each town has its own specialty, with each pastelaria, or pastry shop, competing to have the best. The most popular in the country are pastéis de nata, which come from Lisbon. These small desserts have a thin, flakey crust filled with a rich custard.

In the Medieval town of Sintra, the local pastry is the travesseiro, which means pillow.  Travesseiros are rectangular, airy pieces of dough covered in granulated sugar. They make a mess to eat, but the sweetness is just right. These “pillows” are filled with a cream made from eggs and almonds.

If the name doesn’t give it away, Port wine is a specialty made in Portugal. This drink is a fortified wine, which means a distilled spirit is added. The alcohol content is boosted by something similar to brandy. A small glass of the Portuguese drink smelled more like drinking a liquor than wine. As the group learned at a welcome reception at Universidade Nova de Lisboa, the strong wine pairs well with the traditional sweets of Portugal.

The final night in Lisbon, the group had a dinner at a fado venue. We were greeted with bread and butter as well as a bottle of red wine. The waiters then brought an appetizer tray of cheese, sausage and (once again) olives. Between each course, the crowd was silenced to focus their attention on the music – and the food. A thick bean and vegetable soup was served next, showcasing the country’s fresh produce. In what I believe was an effort to satisfy everyone’s tastes, we were served a fall-off-the-bone chicken rather than a more traditional seafood dish.

A typical dessert in Portugal is caramel custard, which was the final course of the meal and the trip. While the flavor was perfect because it is not too sickly sweet, the texture was just too thick for some of the group’s tastes. It could be compared to the skin that forms on top of a homemade pudding.

By Abbey Newhouse

Joao Palmeiro speaks to the International Media class about the state of the Portuguese media.

International Media students of Point Park University visited The New University of Lisbon the first full day there, and the visit included a lecture by Joao Palmeiro, discussing European media policies and the history of Portugal.

Palmeiro is the president of the Portuguese Press Association and board member of European Newspaper Publisher Association. Palmeiro has had a long respected career in the publishing industry. He also served in the Portuguese civil service as chief officer of public information.

Starting off the lecture, Palmeiro reflected on Portuguese history. Portugal has had its boundaries longer than any other European nation and has been at peace for over 200 years.

He was proud to talk about his participation in keeping the peace during his time of service.

“As long as I knew that I am here, in Africa, then I knew that my family is safe at home,” Palmeiro recalled.

Creating a setting where his audience felt connected to the background of Portugal, Palmeiro spoke about the issues that Europe faces within the media.

He discussed four major issues that face the media, including creating quality and content, regulating content, and delivering to consumers within all platforms.

One concern is just conveying information across mobile phones because in Europe, phone users must pay roaming charges when calling across countries. This cost is prohibitive to media via mobile devices, obviously, he said. Work is underway in the European Union to correct this.

He was proud to tell the students that the Portuguese media is not legislated or reviewed by the government, a departure after years of the Salazar dictatorship. Outside media companies have to pay, he said, to work within Portugal.

While talking about the future of technology in Europe and China, Palmeiro referred back to the issue of sharing too much information and the current backlash against Google News across the continent. Right now Google News has stopped linking content in both Spain and Portugal, among other European countries, because of nonpayment for content and copyright issues – a matter currently being reviewed. He described a situation he encountered with China’s new search engine, Baidu, which he referred to as the “new” Google. He told a story about a meeting he had with this new search engine and the information the Chinese hold behind their computer screen.

“I entered a room where the walls were covered in screens with the personal information of the site visitors,” he said. Why do they have that information you may ask? People voluntarily give these corporations access to personal information as specific as their home address. And he said this is indeed alarming and cause for concern.

By Abbey Newhouse

When it comes to getting to places like Conde Nast in Madrid, the beach in Barcelona and Rossiro Park in Lisbon, International Media students of Point Park University had no trouble using the Metro or taxis or walking to destinations during their time in Spain and Portugal.

The use of pubic transportation is very popular and inexpensive in the cities of Madrid, Barcelona and Lisbon, where the Point Park students visited for two weeks. The metro, bus and taxis are all common ways of getting around in each city for a low cost, and there is always one way that is free: walking.

Madrid public transportation consists of 13 Metro lines and 170 bus lines. One ticket costs under two euros, and there are passes for unlimited usage during one, two, three, five or seven days. Buying a pass is very simple; pay by cash on a bus or pay by credit card or cash at the machines in the metro stations. This is very similar to the process of buying a metro ticket in the United States.

The Metro runs from 6 a.m. to 1:30 a.m. This makes the Metro very convenient to ride during any part of the day. The frequency is fast and reliable, and most rides in the central part of the city vary between 2 to 5 minutes.

“Our second day in Madrid, we took the metro to Conde Nast,” said International Media student Bryn McClay. “It was different at first because the signs were in a different language, but luckily Mauricio, our tour guide, was there to guide us.”

While riding the Metro always hold on to your bags in case of pickpocketing. Luckily, during the International Media trip no one faced any problems with that. The class had their eyes on their bags at all times after a reminder from the Metro intercom to stay clear of the petty crime. Other than being aware of your surroundings, the Metro is a safe way of traveling and easy to access at an inexpensive price.

“If I am not in a hurry, I take the bus because it is less crowded, but if I am in a hurry the Metro is the one to take. It is much faster,” said tour guide Mauricio Macarron Larumbe.

While visiting Barcelona, depending on the neighborhood, the Metro and walking are the most common ways to get around for tourists.

The metro covers mostly all of the area, and tickets are purchased at machines or ticket offices located in the Metro stations.

A single ticket costs 2.50 euros, but if you are planning to ride the Metro multiple times, the best option is to buy a T10 ticket. A T10 ticket will give you access to 10 rides on the Metro for 9.95 Euros. There are always two entrances to the Metro, so when exiting always know which way to head in order to avoid backtracking.

Like Madrid, the stations are very clean and always busy with people. And discounts are available to large groups. For instance, because the class consisted of 21 people (with Jan and Mauricio) they were able to ride the metro to Passeig de Gracia to eat dinner for 1.20 euros a person.

To catch some scenery, walking is always an option. Walking around the streets of Barcelona is a great way to experience the lifestyle, artwork and entertainment such as street performers and living statues that fill the streets. But, watch out for street vendors who will try and sell whatever they have to you. Most restaurants will have employees stand outside and sell their menu or street vendors will try and sell you knock off “Ray Ban” sunglasses called “Roy Bons.”

“For the most part, I walked everywhere. We stayed in a touristy area, so there was a lot to do within walking distance, including the beach and shopping,” International Media student Dana Bohince said. “While we walked, I was able to buy a beautiful painting from a local artist.”

The transportation system in Lisbon includes a variety of options: Metro, taxis and trams. But metro system has only five lines, so compared to Madrid and Barcelona it is very small. The Metro is the most common way to get around because it is the most efficient according to goLisbon. The metro runs from 6 a.m. to 1 a.m.

Old trams add to Lisbon’s unique charm and are a must to ride while visiting Lisbon. If you want to enjoy the neighborhood of Bairro Alto, catch the tram to avoid the walk up the steep streets.

An additional way to get around the city is taxi. Even though, it is more expensive than the Metro, it is a reasonable price.

While in Rossio Park area, International Media student Liz Meckel carried her hotel address card, available to all students in every place the students stayed on the trip, so she could give one to her taxi driver on the way back to her hotel.

But using the Metro there has its advantages.

“I would suggest riding the Metro because you get to participate in the living of the city,” said Cinta Fernandes, an intern at the Portuguese public broadcaster RTP. “Also, you can experience the better landscape and culture for a cheap price.”

By Anthony Mendicino

The Palacio Real de Madrid, or Royal Palace of Madrid, stands as the city’s largest building and one of its most historically important.

The largest palace in Western Europe, it was erected on the same location as the Alcázar (a Moorish castle that burned down in 1734). Phillip V decided to rebuild the palace and employed one of the best architects in Europe at the time, Filippo Juvarra, to design it. The palace was also damaged during the Spanish Civil War, but restorations made after the war repaired the damage and reinstalled all broken decorations and damaged walls as exact reproductions of the originals.

The palace itself is made up of a series of domes without a single piece of wood. The final stone was put in place in 1751, and the palace was open for business, although the exterior grounds were not complete until 1759. While the exterior of the palace is imposing and beautiful, the inside is even more spectacular. High vaulted ceilings, grand stairways, even grander rooms and priceless pieces of art fill out the inner quarters of the palace.

Paintings and frescos by Tiépolo, Velázquez and, most notably, Goya line the walls of the building. Every room contains some priceless piece of art. The palace has 1.45 million square feet of floor space and a grand total of 3,418 rooms, making it the largest palace in Europe by floor area.

The sizes of the rooms differ depending on their use; one is big enough to house a huge table that can be modified to seat up to 140 people and is only used when the king is present, another much smaller room is totally made up of Chinese porcelain. One room even houses the world’s only complete Stradivarius string quartet. The rest of the rooms are used for a wide range of things: a room specifically for breakfast, one for lunch and one for dinner, one for royal meetings with guests and others to accommodate royal audiences. The Royal Armory of Madrid is also located within the palace walls.

The courtyard on the inner grounds of the palace is huge, roughly the size of two full soccer pitches and houses the Almudena Cathedral directly across from the palace. The square courtyard was the brainchild of architect Enrique María Repullés who laid out the plans in 1892. However, the space itself dates back to 1553 when King Phillip II ordered a building to house the royal stables.

According to our guide Mauricio Macarron Larumbe,the palace is not frequently used much these days. Although the palace is still the official residence of the King of Spain, he rarely uses it, and it is more of a tourist attraction than anything. But when the king returns, it can still be fully functional for any occasion.

For example, in 2004, the wedding of then Prince and now King Felipe and Letizia Ortiz took place in its courtyard. Larumbe said the 1,500 guests barely fit.

The exterior of the palace is a wonder of architecture and landscaping. The Plaza de Oriente connects the eastern side of the palace to the Teatro Real (royal theatre). The rectangular park is divided into three different parks: the Central Gardens, the Cabo Noval Gardens and the Lepanto Gardens. Each garden consists of up to seven flowerbeds with varying types of flowers.

The Campo del Moro Gardens are located outside the palace walls and were constructed in the Romanticist style of the times. Amongst the various gardens are fountains brought from the Royal Palace of Aranjuez. The current king will periodically use this space to host receptions and dinners during the summer.

Finally, the Sabatini Gardens were designed in 1933 under the last Republican government of Spain. They are named after architect Francesco Sabatini, who designed the royal stables. The main attraction of the gardens is a large, rectangular pond surrounded by fountains and statues of royal kings. The Sabatini Gardens are located on the north side of the palace.

By Bryn McClay

Teresa Guitart, head of International Relations and Sales at TV3, tells visitors that it’s not a usual TV station. TV3 is the only station dedicated solely to the Catalan people of Spain.

International Media students visited Catalan’s main TV station, TV3. TV3 is the primary television channel of Catalan public broadcaster Televisio de Catalunya. Its main purpose is to offer news, current affairs, and self-produced series and documentaries to the Catalan population in Spain. TV3 has three buildings in order to develop its programming with five different studios for TV shows.

TV3 first broadcasted on Sept.11, 1983, the national holiday of Catalan. In order to stay competitive with other stations TV3 knew it had to pick up popular TV shows, and it selected “Dallas.” Another big hit for TV3 is the soap opera “La Riera,” an original show created by TV3 staff. This soap opera receives 24 percent of its shares in the TV market.

Although some people do speak a different language, the Catalonian population in Spain is about 7 million and 90 percent of Spain speaks Catalan. Due to the fact that all regions of Spain have their own governments, the Catalan government felt it needed its own mass media station to address the Catalonian people. It broadcasts solely in Catalan.

TV3 is free to all people because 70 percent is government funded and advertising funds the other 30. Because of the recession in Spain, TV3 had to bring its budget down 40 percent, but that station was still able to stay the number one network, Guitart said. Unlike the United States, TV3’s commercials stay respectful, which has a lot to do with government funding. They also show better programs, not reality shows.

“We want to show customers more quality programs,” Guitart said.

TV3 features genres such as news, fiction and sports. The station broadcasts the morning show first, news during the day and at night different soap operas. TV3 has a children’s channel called Super 3 and sports channel called Futbol e 3. All of the shows are available in HD TV and are available on the Internet. Unlike many other mass media broadcasters, TV3 can be seen everywhere. Its six top channels hold 80 percent of the entire audience for TV3, whereas other networks only have five top channels.

The children’s station broadcasts Japanese animation, or manga, as well as “Tom and Jerry” because there is an agreement with Warner. TV3’s kid’s club now has over 1 million members and continues to grow.

“We died of success,” Guitart said of the kid’s club.

It also offers entertainment programs Monday through Friday at 9 p.m. with different shows each week, targeted to adults.

According to Ferran Molines, head of image and producing for marketing at TV3, his team hand creates all of the images or logos for the different channels. They work with Final Cut Pro and four different post-production studios for its promotional materials. Not only do they work with one another but also they work with companies outside of the station sometimes to get some help and more ideas. Molines works with 25 to 30 people a week to create over 30 different promos.

TV3’s logo has been around for so long now that Molines said the station management sees no reason to change it due to its popularity. The current logo has remained unchanged for 10 years, but it started out as a three with a flag and has evolved since then.

Story and photos by Kariann Mano

The bull bucked matador Jimenez Fortes right off the ground, then proceeded to run over Fortes, causing injury to the fan-favorite.

A handful of students who bought tickets for one of the bullfights that happen daily in May because of the San Isidro bullfight festival witnessed the injury and much more. This festival brings the best bullfighters, bulls and fans together in one place: La Plaza de Toros where the Las Ventas bullring stands.

Eastern facade of Las Ventas bullfighting ring

The International Media class toured here the first day after landing in Madrid. Though it wasn’t busy during the day of the short tour, the plaza is filled in the evening with vendors selling souvenirs, flags, food, shirts, and candy … anything to earn a few euros.

With hundreds, even thousands of fans surrounding the bullring, tickets were still being sold for the May events, even those scheduled for that day. Ticket offices were small booths that line the outside of the plaza, selling tickets for “Sun or Shade,” a simple way to choose your seat. While sun is cheapest because it does not provide the luxury of being in the shade out of the heat, the entire ring has the same type of seat: tan concrete benches with white painted numbers displaying the seat number. Some rented seat cushions for over one euro, while others opted to sit on the hard concrete.

The arena was filled upon entry. Unlike most United States sporting events, the bullfight started immediately at 7 p.m. as it was scheduled.

There are three matadors who fight two bulls, one bull in the first round and then one again in the second round once the first three have been killed. Each matador has a 15-minute session with the bull to fight.

Matador costumes are lavish. They are colorful and always have braided gold embroidered on the tops of their sleeves. This helps distinguish them from their picadors, his band of fighters.

A matador first receives his bull by standing or on his knees in front of the gate where the bull is released. Farmers raise bulls on large open land where they graze.

Inside the bullfighting ring

Once the bull is released, the picadors “help” their matador agitate the bull with banderillas, barbed sticks that are decorated with color and tassels. Picadors walk up to the bull and stab two banderillas into the bull’s back that help to weaken the bull. There are two large, white circles outlined with chalk in the ring. The matadors try to keep the bull in the innermost ring to show control of the bull.

There are two picadors on horseback. The horses are armored with heavy leather panels around one side of their bodies, while their other side is protected from the wall of the ring. The picadors use long lances to penetrate the bull’s neck, weakening its neck muscles.

It is after the “help” from the picadors that the matador attempts his show. Using his cape, the matador passes the bull by keeping the cape as close to his body as possible, showing off in an artistic, somewhat arrogant way. After passing the bull so many times, the matador takes a long sword to kill the bull. The matador stabs the sword into the bull’s shoulder blades, then pounds on its head as its dying.

After the bull dies, it is dragged out of the ring by a number of horses. It is hooked behind the horses as they run to another gate where a butcher awaits its fresh meat.

The audience judges the fight the entire session. If there are whistles in the crowd, that means the crowd is not impressed and does not like what they are seeing. If they are impressed, they clap, according to tour guide Mauricio Macarron Larumbe.

The president of bullfighting is in charge, though. If he waves a white handkerchief, the president is impressed and the matador receives an ear from its bull, a trophy. He is also in charge of moving the fight along and encouraging the brass band to play to signal the bull to be released from the gate.

The last fight the students saw was that of Jimenez Fortes. Macarron said he was doing stunts with his cape he should not have been doing, and that is when the bull took his chance. The bull charged at Fortes, flipping him off the ground, goring him with one horn in the neck. The next moment he was being trampled on by the bull and gored yet again.

Fortes walked off with his hands holding his neck but was soon carried by his fellow picadors into the gates, where a doctor was waiting.

While Fortes was checked on by the in-house doctor, another matador came out to finish his job. Fans cheered wildly and loudly, as if nothing had happened.

Some attendees decided to stay behind to see if there would be any word on Fortes, but it was the next day when we would find out through media reports that if he was in recovery and doing well.

“People die,” Macarron said. “It’s not often, but it happens.”

By Ashley Kolumban

Professor Gustavo Garcia-Mansilla, the director of the Executive Media MBA program at the University of Navarra, met us on our first official media visit of the trip and took us on a tour of the building they’re seemingly growing out of. The school plans to move into a bigger building that will better suit their size very soon.

We visited one of the six locations the where university has campuses; others being Munich, New York City, Barcelona and more. El Mundo, a popular Spanish newspaper, ranked the University of Navarra’s journalism program the best in Spain in 2013.

Garcia-Mansilla began his presentation by introducing us to pictures of his “team”: his wife, children and his passion for music. This set him apart from everyone right from the start. In the United States, most people, speakers or professionals, often don’t let the audience into their personal lives, and they just stick to what the audience came there to hear.

This was our first glimpse at how proud the people of Spain are of their country, their families and their professions. The Spanish lifestyle has a positive effect on the moods and work ethics of the people who live there. It all translates into their work, which they can show off and be proud of. This creates better products and better services, and Garcia-Mansilla stressed that, and that is important in the country’s recovery from the 2008-09 worldwide economic crisis.

Much of the businesses, even in Spain, don’t necessarily focus all of their attention on the clients or customers. Many of the higher-up figures do and make decisions they think will better the company or the end result to the customer without actually consulting or listening to the feedback from the customer.

A relatively big problem that companies are facing is the lack of communication in the current Spanish media landscape. Garcia-Mansilla explained that CEOs have a few things on their mind: political issues, strategic issues, organizational issues and marketing issues.

The political issues he referred to in regards to the companies was to continue being influential in political social behavior. In order to keep afloat financially, they enforce getting help through tax policies, such as the value added tax or VAT. And finally, another major issue that is infiltrating Spain is piracy. Netflix isn’t available because of the high rates of piracy. His final political issue thought was to get urgent help against piracy.

When he referred to strategic issues, he was referring to ways of increasing the barrier entries into their markets. CEOs are also looking to come back to the past, but only if they are lucky. The last point Garcia-Mansilla made with strategic issues was to establish fair competition against more dynamic organizations.

The third topic referring to structural issues touched upon being more efficient in structural costs, as well as allocating the best talent in the most promising business lines. The easy way out — even mediocre — is saving dollars the easy way by cutting staff and expenses. Garcia-Mansilla said the more creative companies and CEOs are looking for way to increase income and reduce costs without affecting the product so severely. And finally he talked about improving flexibility for faster reaction to new opportunities.

When Garcia-Mansilla discussed the marketing issues that CEOs are thinking about, one of them is understanding new consumers’ behavior. Knowing who to market to and how to market to them is key. And within this, a development of branding will come forth. As he mentioned earlier in the presentation, the top of the ladder doesn’t always, or hardly ever, looks down to the bottom of the ladder for advice or opinions, and that’s the point he made: delivering content with the costumers in mind and not the editors of the companies is of major importance to their recovery and future growth.

With the Spanish media landscape an ever-changing and ever-growing industry, in order for companies to succeed and live out economic crises or roadblocks, listening to the end consumer would be in their best interest, he emphasized.

Story and photos Kimberly Prelosky

Conde Nast Spain is a publishing company based in Madrid, Spain. It is one of the largest companies of its kind to be privately owned, which is reason for the unique value propositions and attention to consumer-oriented details that the group so diligently follows. Those employed by Conde Nast Spain all seemed to have similar qualities — passion being the most evident.

Chief Executive Officer Javier Pascual del Olmo met with us first to welcome us to the offices and explain a little bit about the company. Conde Nast Spain is owned by the Newhouse family, just as all other branches of the company are, but it was launched in Madrid in 1988. Vogue was the first publication brought to the Spanish forefront and has been followed by Architectural Design, Conde Nast Traveler, Glamour, GQ, and Vanity Fair. His pride in the company was unmistakable as he explained that Conde Nast Spain is one of the largest companies in terms of revenue and the success of their operations is often attributed to the fact that they are privately owned and free to make creative decisions in accordance to the owner’s wishes.

Natalia Gamero del Castillo, vice president of Corporate Development, took us further into understanding the mission of the company. Conde Nast Spain reaches 16.3 million users every month, and for a company that large, managers have high standards in place. The focal points of Conde Nast Spain’s mission are quality, integrity, long-term vision, local autonomy, innovation, talent, learning and influence. They strive to achieve excellence in these areas because a certain value has been placed on each of these areas for reasons determined over the last 27 years. Gamero del Castillo declared that the motto around the company tends to be, “Innovate even at the risk of failing.”

Conde Nast Spain is also forging a movement in what Gamero del Castillo referred to as consumer empowerment. It wants its readers to feel in control and give them the content they expect from publications like Vogue and GQ. This company goes to great lengths to research the consumer and stay in touch with interests and expectations. It also recognizes the challenge of staying relevant in an increasingly competitive market. Knowing there is always something to improve on is half the battle and continuously improving is the other. Conde Nast Spain likes to try new things and be analytic of them, Natalia explained. While a magazine used to be centered on its writers, photographers, editors, adverting teams and so on, now things are turning toward digitally driven content.

This company stays with the times and now looks for people who can strategize, analyze, manage content and juggle to create new digital platforms. The profile of an employee is changing and a company will only survive if it adapts with its market.

Ines Lorenzo has worked at Vogue for 11 years in every department. She described her experience with enthusiasm about the brand and told us one of her biggest challenges as its editor of Vogue.es (we need to explain her position) has been to take the brand to a digital format over the years. She explained that she wishes to see Vogue shift into a news source, and that she wants to bring the whole experience to the Vogue universe in terms of digital content.

One thing that runs through all of the employees who spoke to us is their concern and passion for their work. These attitudes left many students feeling as though they would like to work in a company similar to Conde Nast Spain if not actually pursuing an internship there.

“Visiting Conde Nast was probably one of the highlights of the trip. Not everyone gets to See Vogue’s newsroom let alone see it in Madrid, Spain,” Sophomore Marissa Rayes said. “We got to learn the ins and outs about how their company operates and also got to see how certain pictures make it into their magazines. It would be such a great experience to get an internship there; it’s definitely something I will strive for.” 

By Anthony Mendicino

With magazine titles like the storied Vogue, GQ, Vanity Fair and Glamour just to name a few, Condé Nast continues to lead the way for magazine companies in Spain.

Established in 1988, Condé Nast Spain is currently headed by President Javier Pascual del Olmos and Natalia Gamero del Castillo, vice president of Corporate Development.

“The company is still family owned, privately owned,” Pascual del Olmos said. He then alluded to the stability that comes with a family owned company. This helped Condé Nast Spain stay relatively secure during the economic crisis that began in 2008.

“Condé Nast is the biggest privately owned media company in world,” Gamero reinforced. The same family has owned the company since 1905 when Condé Montrose Nast founded it in New York. Its international headquarters remains in New York, but the company branches out into 28 different countries.

In Spain, innovation is a mainstay of the company’s goals.

“We must remain innovative to remain relevant,” Gamero said. The company is well aware of the ever-changing consumer. “The challenge is to remain relevant, the consumer is increasingly demanding. Personalization and hyper efficiency is key.”

Condé Nast has seemingly recognized the wants and needs of the new consumer, outlining the incorporation of print and digital forms of the magazine. According to Gamero, the company has integrated its print and digital teams. All told, the company’s magazines reach 16.3 million consumers.

After Gamero finished her presentation, she introduced Ines Lorenzo, an editor at Vogue.es. Lorenzo worked on the print magazine side of the business for 11 years and came to the Web side of the business during the assimilation of the two teams.

“The fact that we are a family business means we can take a long-term approach,” Lorenzo said.

She described the need for the website to reflect the “quality and integration” of the print magazine.

“We want Vogue.es to be looked at as a news reference; (Comma splice) we want to tell the whole story,” Lorenzo said. She noted the differences between working in an online format versus the print version. Mainly, the online version must stay updated, constantly posting on every form of social media, whereas the print magazine is once a month, giving writers and editors more time to work.

Next up was Marta del Riego, managing editor at Vanity Fair.

“At Vanity Fair we are devoted to journalism with a storytelling focus. We cover everything from actors, royals and socialites to wars and other conflicts,” del Riego said. She also said Vanity Fair looks at glamorous people with a different spin.

After del Riego, Beatriz Palomo began her presentation. As Vanity Fair’s photo edition manager, Palomo has access to archives of past photos and helps choose current ones for the magazine.

“Working here is great because we have unlimited access to a huge archive of photos,” Palomo said. She told the group about the Tiger Woods exclusive the magazine ran last year, the only feature to run in both the U.S. and Spain at the same time.

Finally it was time for Beatriz Sanchez Guillen, deputy vice president for Business Development. Guillen spoke to the change in the consumer and how the company must itself change to stay relevant.

“The old times were the good times, and now we must employ more emotional marketing to draw consumers,” she said. She also alluded to how the Internet was seen as a threat but has now become “a tool that makes us stronger.”