The exhibition, part of the 50th-anniversary celebrations for El Punt Avui (an anniversary falling in 2026), offers a visual journey through the newspaper's history via its most significant front pages. Avui, founded on April 23, 1976, was the first newspaper published in Catalan after the Spanish Civil War.
The exhibition was inaugurated last Thursday with the presence of Jordi Panyella, a journalist from El Punt Avui, and Daniel Recasens, Reus's Councillor for Culture. It highlights the newspaper's commitment to the Catalan language, local news, and the territory, through a selection of front pages covering political, social, cultural, and sporting events.
The exhibition's presence in Reus also underscores the city's historical relationship with the newspaper. According to Jordi Panyella, the newspaper's initial popular financing involved 362 Reus residents who contributed 1,016,000 pesetas (6,102.20 euros). The figure of Jaume Vilalta, one of the newspaper's founders and a Reus resident, was also remembered.
Reus's connection with the newspaper dates back to its beginnings. On April 23, 1976, the newspaper already reported on the 'Marxa de la Llibertat' (March for Freedom). Subsequently, news about exhibitions in local galleries and 'sardanista' activities were published. In October of the same year, Ricard Barberà (a pseudonym for Josep Maria Martí) wrote the first major article with Reus in the headline, focusing on the Catalanization of the city's street names.
During the event, the careers of several professionals linked to Reus who have been part of the newspaper were recalled, including Pere Prats, Xavier Bas, Andreu Sotorra, and currently, Xavier Grasset, an opinion columnist. The work of territorial correspondents over the years, such as Jordi Suárez, Natàlia Borbonès, and Eduard Vallès, as well as the Reusdigital.cat newsroom and the territorial editorial board, was also mentioned.
The exhibition features a selection of ten prominent front pages with a Reus focus, covering significant episodes in the city's recent history. These include a jewelry store robbery (December 1976), the water crisis, the renovation of the Teatre Fortuny, the farmers' revolt, the Catalunya Llar nursing home case, the mosque controversy, Ryanair's departure from Reus Airport, the Innova case, the 2020 Christmas Lottery ('Grossa de Nadal'), and most recently, the location of Cipriano Marcos's remains in 2023.
