After the restoration of the Bourbons in the crown of Spain, in the person of Alfonso XII, Práxedes Mateo Sagasta He founded the Liberal Party in 1880, a party that together with the Conservative Party of Cánovas del Castillo It would constitute the two-party system with alternation in government that would characterize the Spanish Restoration during the final stretch of the 19th century and the first part of the 20th century.
Alejandro Lerroux
With Sagasta's arrival in power in 1881, the January 1879 Printing Law was repealed. and the Printing Police Law is approved in 1883 . In this new law, liberal and based on the principle of freedom of expression, the authorization requirements for new publications are simplified, the representation of the press before the Courts and the Authorities now corresponds to the Director (repealing the representation of the founder or owner ), those responsible for judging crimes committed through the printing press are the ordinary Courts following the precepts of the Penal Code (printing crimes and prosecutors and special Courts disappear)...
In this new legal framework, the figure of the straw director is created. . There is the real director and the fictitious, or straw, whose mission was to assume criminal responsibilities in the face of possible complaints as a representative of the newspaper. This figure would allow Alejandro Lerroux take over the effective management of the newspaper El País .
In the newspaper La Veu de Catalunya (The voice of Catalonia ), published in Barcelona from January 1, 1899 to January 8, 1937, also had its straw director... the editor Corma . According to his contract, these were his rewards:
- 200 pesetas/month per editor
- 200 pesetas/month per fictitious (straw) director
- 25 pesetas / day as allowance per day in jail in attribution of his functions as fictitious director
Sources:Les elites et la presse en Espagne et en Amérique latine – Paul Aubert, Spanish historical anecdotario – Mª Fca. Olmedo