¡Hola! is a weekly Spanish-language magazine specializing in celebrity news, published in Madrid, Spain, and in 15 other countries, with local editions in Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Greece, Indonesia, Mexico, Pakistan, Peru, Philippines, Puerto Rico, Thailand, United Kingdom, United States and Venezuela. It is the second most popular magazine in Spain after Pronto.[2] The title means "Hello!" in English and it is the parent magazine of the British magazine Hello!, Hello! Canada and Hola! USA.[3]
¡Hola! was founded in Barcelona on 2 September 1944[4][5] by Antonio Sánchez Gómez, who continued to run the magazine until his death in the 1970s. He employed mainly relatives and to this day ¡Hola! remains a predominantly family run organisation, with Sánchez's wife still stepping in to provide layout for important royal wedding spreads. Later the headquarters of the magazine moved to Madrid.[6]
Initially designed as a family magazine, Sánchez soon realized the potential for profit in the women's industry and initially focused on the doings of royalty, as well as offering a self-help section. Then the magazine became a gossip magazine, although the Spanish version still relies heavily on royalty for their gossip, whilst the English and Latin American versions focus more on Hollywood. The former Spanish Prime MinisterFelipe González gave his first interview to the magazine when he was in office.[7]
The magazine continues to grow and its edition in Argentina was launched in 2010.[8]
The combined readership of ¡Hola! and its various sister magazines is more than a million a week, a large growth from the original 4,000 copies which sold in its first week of production in 1944. The circulation of the magazine was 654,836 copies in 1993, making it the second best-selling magazine in Spain.[9] The magazine was the third best selling magazine in the country with a circulation of 627,514 copies in 1997.[10]
The circulation of ¡Hola! was 553,042 copies in 2005.[11] Its circulation was 537,270 copies in 2008[2] and 475,049 in 2009.[12]
^Manuela Bueno; María Luisa Cárdenas; Lola Esquivias (2007). "The Rise of the Gossip Press in Spain". Journalism Studies. 8 (4): 621–633. doi:10.1080/14616700701412100. S2CID146514743.
