EFE Agency

The EFE Agency, or simply EFE, is an international news agency based in Madrid (Spain) and founded in Burgos during the Spanish Civil War on January 1939. The then Minister of the Interior of the Francoist side, Ramón Serrano Suñer, promoted the creation of the agency, in which the following actively participated: José Antonio Jiménez Arnau, Manuel Aznar Zubigaray and Vicente Gállego.

EFE is an information company that covers all areas of information in the written press, radio, television and internet media. It distributes a volume of three million news a year to more than two thousand communication media, through a network with more than three thousand journalists of 60 nationalities. It operates 24 hours a day from at least 180 cities in 110 countries and with four editing desks in Madrid, Bogotá, Rio de Janeiro and Bangkok. It was the first Spanish agency to have offices in all the Spanish autonomous communities and cities, contributing to the informative structure of the national territory.

General information

The news service in Portuguese was created for Brazil in 2001 and in 2006 it launched the news service in Arabic, based in Egypt, and the World Digital Agenda, which includes calls for any event that is scheduled to take place in those places where EFE has delegations.

From its worldwide network of delegations and correspondents, it offers news in Spanish, Portuguese, English, Arabic, Catalan and Galician. In Spain it has delegations in the capitals of the 17 autonomous communities, as well as Ceuta and Melilla, and sub-delegations in other Spanish cities.

The Graphic Archive of the EFE Agency stores more than 20 million photographs, with 10 million photos online in the EFE Photo Library. The television archive has more than 300,000 digitized and documented videos.

Its digital text archive (EFEData), created in 1988, has more than 10.5 million news items and 35,000 documents (including biographies, documents and entities). It also has a service in English, Portuguese and Catalan, and has a regional news service base.

It has a specific section for environmental information since 1992. In this field, in 2007, it launched the Scholarships for Specialization in Regional Environmental Journalism, an initiative led by the Delegation of Galicia to specialize young journalists in this field of information. A year later —in 2008— in collaboration with Fundación Biodiversidad, he duplicated the program with the call for scholarships throughout Spain.

EFE Agency is a public limited company of which the State is the main shareholder. In 2001, it ceased to depend on State Patrimony and became attached to the State Industrial Participation Company (SEPI).

He was awarded the Prince of Asturias Award for Communication and Humanities in 1995.

Delegation of the agency in the city of Oviedo.

Photographers from the EFE agency, television reporters and editors from Regional Madrid covered the terrorist attacks in Madrid on the front line, which occurred on March 11, 2004, where one of the cameramen themselves, from EFE Televisión, was injured.

In October 2007, it launched an audiovisual information service together with Televisión Española (TVE) for the Spanish-speaking world, in neutral Spanish, called TV EFE.

In November 2009, he presented the EFEverde project at the International Congress of Environmental Journalism in Seville. EFEVerde, a global environmental journalism platform, started in January 2010 for the generation and dissemination of environmental journalistic content both in traditional media and through the Internet and social networks.

In February 2012, it launched its first specific application for iPad, as well as applications for iPhone and Android mobiles.

History

Background

The origins of the agency go back to 1865 when the «Correspondents Center» was born, the first news agency in Spain, promoted by the Catalan journalist Nilo María Fabra, and in 1870 a cooperation agreement was signed with the French agency Havas Through this agreement, the Correspondent Center reserved the distribution rights in Spain for Havas international news.

In 1919, the Fabra agency was created, when Havas became part of the shareholding of the Correspondent Center. Havas withdrew from shareholding in 1926 at the same time that the banks Banco Central, Banco Santander and Banco Hispano Americano entered the partnership (these three banks merged at the end of the century XX at Banco Santander Central Hispano).

Birth and early years

Agencia EFE was born in Burgos in 1939, where the headquarters of the rebel faction assembled by General Francisco Franco is located. Its founder, Ramón Serrano Suñer, brother-in-law of General Franco and Minister of the Interior, called the journalist Vicente Gállego, first director of the newspaper Ya, to start the project.

On January 3, 1939, the soldier Celedonio de Noriega Ruiz, Marquis of Torrehoyos, and the journalist Luis Amato de Ibarrola, both legal representatives of the Fabra agency, testify before the notary José María Hortelano, that «they have agreed to set up a mercantile company anonymous, with the name Agencia EFE S.A.". The Fabra agency contributed its rights and its name. In this way, the new agency could be admitted to the Club of Allied Agencies, made up at that time of some thirty agencies and whose statutes stated that only one agency per country can be a member of the association. In addition to the shares From the Fabra Agency to the new agency, technical and human elements from the now-defunct Faro and Febus Agencies were incorporated.

Controversy over the origin of the name

About the reasons for the name «EFE» there is controversy. The former president and director of the agency, Luis María Ansón, affirmed in an article published in the newspaper Ya that the name EFE was due to the participation of the old agencies Fabra, Febus and Faro in the new agency. However, Ramón Serrano Suñer acknowledged in a letter sent to Antonio Herrero Losada, director of the Europa Press news agency, that the EFE agency was named in this way "because F is the initial letter of Falange and Fe, which was the newspaper Phalanx combat. He also added: There was no mention that it was also a reason for the name of EFE that this letter was Franco's initial. This would come later." Herrero Losada, linked to the Fabra agency, denied Luis María Ansón, recalling that since 1938, in the midst of the civil war, EFE broadcast news for the news media of the Francoist side, where editors from the Fabra agency were persecuted by his previous activity, and another of those mentioned, Febus, continued his information service in the republican sector. For his part, José Antonio Giménez Arnau assured that it was he who provided Serrano Suñer with the idea of creating the agency and drafted its statutes, that EFE had nothing to do with the initial of Falange or of Franco, since according to some sources it occupied the building of the Editorial Falange Española as its headquarters, from whose initials it took its name, and that it had proof that will only be known after his death something that occurred three years after the controversy without any revelation.

First venues and services

The first headquarters of the EFE Agency was installed on a floor of a modern six-story building, inaugurated the previous year, which currently corresponds to number 10 -9 in the old numbering- of Victoria street. Its The first president was Celedonio Noriega, Marquis of Torrehoyos and its first managing director Vicente Gállego Castro.

It was decided that the information services be signed with different names: EFE, the international one; Figure, the national; Graphic Figure, the graphic and Alfil, the sporty one.

Similarly, in 1939 the offices from Burgos were moved to Madrid, temporarily using an office on calle Espalter.

In 1940, EFE moved its headquarters to a house at number 5 Calle Ayala in Madrid and opened a branch in Barcelona. The same year Jesús Pabón replaced Noriega as president and four years later, in 1944, the until then deputy director Pedro Gómez Aparicio replaced Vicente Gállego in the direction and management of the agency.

In 1946, the economic service Comtelsa was created in collaboration, 50%, with the British agency Reuters.

In 1951, EFE installed its first telephoto receiver. In 1958 Gómez Aparicio was replaced in his position by Manuel Aznar Zubigaray, a journalist, diplomat and writer, who left office 2 years later. The management was assumed by the president and the executives of the company for 3 years, until in 1963 the journalist and foreign correspondent, Carlos Sentís, was appointed managing director. In 1965, Carlos Sentís was promoted to the presidency of EFE, replacing Jesús Pabón, and the journalist Carlos Mendo was appointed managing director of EFE.

1960s, 70s and 80s: internationalization

In 1965, the first EFE correspondent office in America was opened in Buenos Aires and the following year EFE's foreign information service began for its distribution in Latin America and offices were opened in all the American countries.

In 1967, Miguel Mateu Pla will be president of EFE, in September of the following year Manuel Aznar will become president and in 1969 Alejandro Armesto will be appointed managing director.

In 1968, EFE acquired the agency Fiel and in 1969 started small news services in English and French.

In 1972, EFE allied with several Central American media outlets to create the Central American News Agency (ACAN), based in Panama. His expansion throughout America led him in 1979 to become a full member of the Inter-American Press Association.

In February 1976, José María Alfaro Polanco was appointed president of EFE and in September the presidency was assumed by Luis María Anson, who would also be general director. That same year, the first Style Manual of the EFE Agency was published for the homogeneous writing of information services around the world, under the direction and advice of professor and academic Fernando Lázaro Carreter.

In 1977, EFE moved its headquarters to 32 Espronceda street. That same year, all the information services of the agency began to use the name EFE, which until then had been reserved for international information, for which reason the companies Cifra, Cifra-Gráfica and Alfil disappeared.

In 1977, the EFE Journalism Awards were also created, which in 1983 would be replaced by the King of Spain Awards.

In 1981, EFE and the Institute for Ibero-American Cooperation created the Department of Urgent Spanish (DEU) with the participation of philologists and prominent language academics, with the mission of ensuring the correct use of Spanish in their information services.

In 1983, the journalist Ricardo Utrilla was named president and general director and an agreement was signed with the North American news agency UPI to promote the Radio department. The services "Large Firms" and "Crónicas Fin de Siglo" are also created to distribute articles by prominent intellectuals in Spain and Latin America. In the same year, Jacobo Zabludovsky (Mexico), won the King of Spain International Journalism Award in the American Award category for the program entitled "Hernán Cortés, hero or villain?", from the series "Contrapunto", broadcast by Televisa de Mexico. Years later, in 1986, this same journalist won the King of Spain International Journalism Award in the Radio category for the program "Terremoto en México", broadcast by Radiodifusora XEV.

In 1984, EFE formally joined the European Pressphoto Agency (EPA), the first European telephoto agency, with 20% of the company's capital.

In 1985 Héctor Vasconcelos (Mexico), won the King of Spain International Journalism Award in the American Award category, for programs on the History of New Spain, within the series "In Search of Mexico", broadcast by Channel 8 of «Televisa».

In 1986, EFE changed its logo and the journalist Alfonso Sobrado Palomares was appointed president-general director.

In 1987 Sebastião Salgado (Brazil) won the King of Spain International Journalism Award in the Photography category, for a series of workers from the Serra Pelada gold mines, published in the Brazilian magazine “Manchete”., «The Sunday Times Magazine» and «The New York Times Magazine».

In 1988, the EFE Data service began, the first news data bank in Spanish, and in March of that same year the EFE Foundation was created to promote research, development and study of information and its technology, as well as the granting of training scholarships for students in any of the branches of Information Sciences. In 1989 EFE began to distribute its information services to its clients by satellite. This year Daniel Samper Pizano (Colombia) won the King of Spain International Journalism Award in the American Award category for the work entitled «Thousand years of Spanish. Present and future of the language", published in the magazine "Cambio 16" of Spain and in the newspaper "El Tiempo" of Bogotá.

In 1989, the 50th anniversary of the EFE agency was celebrated with an itinerant graphic exhibition called Efemérides, with archive funds, and the Madrid Press Association awarded EFE the Rodríguez Santamaría Award for its work.

1990s, 2000s and 2010s: new technologies and diversification

Affiliates will begin to be created for specific topics. In 1990 the subsidiaries Efeagro and Efecom were created, in 1994 Euroefe was created and in 2010 Efeverde (presented in 2009 at the VIII International Congress of Environmental Journalism). In 2013, Efefuturo, Efesalud, Efe-empresas, Efemotor, Efetur and Efeescuela were launched.

In 2009, the EFE Foundation received the Vía Apia award for information transparency for the environmental journalism programs carried out that decade. That same year, Efeverde published the Guide for journalists on climate change and international negotiation and launched the Efeverde sites on Facebook and Twitter, pioneers of the agency in social networks. In 2011, Efeverde's free applications were launched for mobile devices with the Android operating system, for iPhone and its first specific application for iPad.

Prizes will also be created. In 1990, he gave the first Silver Ball Award to the best Ibero-American soccer player and in 1998, together with Unicef, they created the Ibero-American Communication Awards for the Rights of Children and Adolescents. In 2004, the Don Quixote Prize for Journalism was created, which is awarded at the same time as the King of Spain Prize.

Also in 1990, Jesús Quintero (Spain), won the King of Spain International Journalism Award in the Radio category for the reports entitled «Cementerio«, «El Rocío» and «Between heaven and earth«, from the series «Que sabe nadie», broadcast by Canal Sur de Andalucía.

In 1991, official Teletext broadcasts began as well as its presence in Latin America.

In 1993, the first woman, Elvira Urquijo A, joined the team of photojournalists.

In 1995, EFE was awarded the Prince of Asturias Award for Communication and Humanities in recognition of its work, independence and neutrality, an award that it shared that year with the philosopher Aranguren.

In 1996, Miguel Ángel Gozalo was appointed president-general director of EFE.

In 1998, the agency's photo library began to function as a digital photographic archive. In the year 2000, the commercialization and digitalization of graphic and press archives began and the Intranet “Entre Nosotros” was created. In 2003, the International Graphic Service (SGI) was launched in alliance with EPA and the Multimedia Coordination Unit was inaugurated in Madrid.

In 1999 Luis del Olmo (Spain) won the King of Spain International Journalism Award in the Ibero-American Award category, for the program «Protagonistas-Lisboa«, broadcast by Onda Rambla Catalunya on May 28, 1999.

In 2001, a service in Portuguese was launched for Brazil. Likewise, EFE ceases to depend on State Patrimony and is attached to the State Industrial Participation Company (SEPI) and receives the Company Award from the Association of Internet Users (AUI). This same year Andrés Oppenheimer (United States), won the King of Spain International Journalism Award in the Ibero-American Award category for the various articles on corruption in Latin America and the influence of large multinational companies, published in "El Nuevo Herald"., of Miami; «La Nación», from Buenos Aires and «El País», from Madrid, between February 25 and May 20, 2001.

In 2002, a publishing center was created in Miami that facilitated the adaptation of news content to the American market.

In 2003, Pilar Requena del Río (Spain), won the King of Spain International Journalism Award in the Television category for the documentary "The Pope who came from Poland", broadcast by Televisión Española on May 1, 2003.

In 2004, Álex Grijelmo was appointed president of EFE, the journalist from the Arturo Larena agency won the National Environmental Award in the Journalism category. A multi-year collective agreement (2005-2006-2007) is signed for the first time.

In 2005, journalist Lola Álvarez was appointed general director. Based on the Department of Urgent Spanish (DEU), founded by Luis María Anson in 1981, the FUNDÉU (Fundación del Español Urgente) was created, the result of an agreement between EFE and BBVA. The subsidiary ACAN-EFE (the service for Central America) is integrated into EFE.

In 2006, Efe changed its logo again and, by vote of the Casa's journalists, the first Efe Editorial Board was created. Arabic news service relocates to Cairo. Martín Mucha (Spain), wins the King of Spain International Journalism Award in the Ibero-American Award category for the reports published in the "Crónica" supplement of the "El Mundo" newspaper, from Madrid, from June 4 to August 6, 2006.

In 2007, the Editing Desk moved from Miami to Bogotá, which became the Cyberdesk of America, dedicated to product integration. TVEFE América (in Spanish) and TVEFE Brasil (in Portuguese) are born, a strategic alliance between Televisión Española and EFE to create the first audiovisual service for international news. Juan Antonio Sacaluga and team (Spain), win the King of Spain International Journalism Award in the Television category for "La lucha de las mujeres", four reports of 45 minutes each, broadcast on the television program "En portada" Española on January 26, February 9 and 23 and June 19, 2007. Fran Sevilla (Spain), wins the King of Spain International Journalism Award in the Radio category for "The mothers of Ciudad Juárez", broadcast by National Radio of Spain, Radio 5, on December 26, 2006.

In 2008, the 64th General Assembly of the Inter-American Press Association (SIP) was held in Madrid, with the co-organization of Agencia EFE. EFE and Dow Jones launch a new joint service of economic and financial news in Spanish. The book "The Urgent Smile" is published. Gervasio Sánchez (Spain), wins the King of Spain International Journalism Award in the Photography category for the series “Vidas minadas, 10 años después”, published in the “Magazine” supplement of the newspaper “La Vanguardia” and in the newspaper “ Heraldo de Aragón", on November 18, 2007.

In November 2009, EFE celebrated its 70th anniversary, consolidated as the fourth agency in the world and the first in Spanish. The first permanent EFE correspondent opens in Tehran. The news service "EFE-Galicia in Galician" is born. The EFE news agency publishes the book “Efe 20 anys de notícies en catalá”. Juan Villoro (Mexico), wins the King of Spain International Journalism Award in the Ibero-American Award category for his work "The red carpet, the empire of narcoterrorism", published in the newspaper "El Periódico de Catalunya" on February 1, 2009 Nieves Concostrina (Spain), wins the King of Spain International Journalism Award in the Radio category for the first program of the series "Acércate al Quijote", broadcast by Radio Nacional de España on July 27, 2009.

In 2011, the new Urgent Style Book was presented, its first multimedia journalism manual. EFE and YouTube launch the channel “General Elections 2011”. And together with the Fundación de la Lengua Española and the Instituto Cervantes, they launch the “Practica Español” page.

In January 2012, he presented his guide for journalists on social networks and in February the Future area to promote scientific and technological information.

In March, the journalist José Antonio Vera Gil is appointed as the new president of EFE, replacing Álex Grijelmo.

This year, Antonio Baquero Iglesias, Michele Catanzaro and Ángela Biesot Vico (Spain) won the King of Spain International Journalism Award in the Press category for the last part of the series «El caso Óscar. A long investigation in search of the truth", published in the newspaper "El Periódico de Catalunya" on March 22, 2012.

In 2013, the book “75 years, 75 photos” was published to commemorate the 75th birthday of His Majesty the King. XXX Edition of the King of Spain Awards and the book "Kings of Journalism" is published. Celebration of the 40th Anniversary of ACAN-EFE. The book “Sofía 75 years” is published. José María Irujo (Spain), wins the King of Spain International Journalism Award in the Press category for “La vida oculta del asesino de Yolanda”, published in the newspaper “El País” on February 24, 2013.

Headquarters at Burgos Avenue.

In 2014 the agency moved to a new headquarters, inaugurated by the Prince and Princess of Asturias, in the north of Madrid, on Avenida de Burgos.

This same year, the 75th anniversary of the agency takes place. The kings inaugurate the great commemorative exhibition of the 75 years of EFE. On the occasion of this commemoration, 44 traveling exhibitions were held in the different autonomous communities of Spain and 21 in as many countries in America and the Congresses of the European News Agencies (EANA) and Mobile Information and News Data Services (MINDS) in Madrid, as well as the Mediterranean News Agencies (AMAN) in Alicante. Seminars were also given in El Escorial and Santander.

The books "Felipe VI: the life of the King in 100 images" and "EFE75" are published.

EFE and KPMG created Foro Líderes, as an informative meeting.

In 2015, FUNDÉU celebrates the 10th anniversary of its foundation. EFE increases its stake in EPA (European Photopress Agency) to 49.9%. EFEAgro celebrates 25 years of its existence. An EFE exhibition is held in Buenos Aires and Caracas for EFE's 50 years in America. The 1000 issues and 3 years of EFEsalud.com are celebrated with a commemorative act.. Carlos Herrera (Spain), wins the King of Spain International Journalism Award in the Ibero-American Award category for the article "Zabludovsky", published in the "ABC" newspaper on July 3, 2015.

In 2016, the Exhibition is held in Lima for the 50 years of EFE in Peru. The EFE Museum is inaugurated by the then President of the Government, Mariano Rajoy.

EFE and its president receive the Eisenhower Award for freedom of expression.

In the same year, EFE awarded the Don Quixote Prize for Journalism to Nobel Prize winner Mario Vargas Llosa.

The practicodeporte.com website is created.

Jordi Basté (Spain), wins the King of Spain International Journalism Award in the Radio category for the program "Attentados en París", broadcast by RAC1 on November 13, 2015.

Carmen Posadas (Uruguay), wins the King of Spain International Journalism Award in the Ibero-American Award category for the article "Soñar en español", published on August 8, 2016.

Arturo Pérez-Reverte (Spain), wins the Don Quijote Prize for Journalism for the article “Los godos del emperador Valente”, published in the XL Semanal magazine of the ABC newspaper, on September 13, 2015.

In 2017, the EFE-EPA multimedia service in English for Asia came into operation. The News 4 Europe line is put into service with EFE, EPA and ten other European news agencies. The website museo.efe.com is created. EL PAÍS wins the King of Spain International Journalism Award in the Award for Outstanding Media of Ibero-America category, for its relevance during the Spanish Transition and for being one of the most outstanding media of the democratic period. El País is the Spanish-language newspaper with the highest international circulation and reference, primarily in Latin America. In these 40 years it has witnessed the main events that have taken place in the world and, in a very particular way, in Spain and Latin America.

In 2018, for the first time, EFE began to publish photographs around the world with its accredited brand together with that of EPA. The general State budgets recognize for the first time the EFE budget as a Service of General Economic Interest, increasing the agency's public endowment to 51 million.

In July 2018, the journalist Fernando Garea was appointed as the new president of EFE, replacing José Antonio Vera Gil.

The Agency promotes new equal treatment and opportunity policies among its workers.

The new headquarters in Barcelona's technological district of 22@ is inaugurated in Barcelona.

Efeminista.com is born, a transversal website to ensure Equality.

The 1st Saliou Traoré Awards for journalism in Spanish about Africa are created.

The VI Editorial Board is reactivated.

In 2019, the EFE Agency validated the IPS certificate of sustainable management, a seal of excellence that integrates the concepts of business, environmental and social responsibility. That same year he held the first commemorative act of the 80th anniversary of the EFE Agency at the National Music Auditorium in Madrid with a concert presided over by Queen Sofía. That same year, the agency launched EFE Verifica, a fact-checking service with the aim of "responding to growing misinformation". 19, a channel for citizen consultations was implemented through the messaging application Whatsapp, whose scope would later expand to cover information from Latin America.

EFE joins “Comprobando”, a news verification project that brings together 16 Spanish media outlets to fight against disinformation.

The Equality Commission of the EFE Agency prepares a Non-Sexist Communication Manual for journalists.

In 2019, Agencia EFE was awarded the "Communication committed to women" of the Federation of Women Directors, Executives, Professionals and Entrepreneurs (FEDEPE).

In May 2020, for the first time a woman was appointed as president of EFE: the journalist and writer Gabriela Cañas, replacing Fernando Garea.

EFEVerifica becomes part of the International Fact-Checking Network (IFCN), the international body that oversees verification agencies. The X Anniversary of EFEVerde is celebrated. EFE incorporates its videos on the Associated Press (AP) and Reuters platforms. EFE's videos are hosted on new sales platforms in the world market, such as Shutterstock, one of the great photography showcases in the United States.

This same year, the EFE Archive received an Honorable Mention at the King of Spain Journalism Awards.

In 2021, EFEcomunica, EFE's new platform for corporate services and products for companies and institutions, begins its journey.

The Spanish Federation of Food Banks (FESBAL) awards the 2020 Communication Award to Agencia EFE for its outstanding contribution and generous support to this entity dedicated to combating hunger, poverty and food waste.

Photojournalist Brais Lorenzo, an EFE collaborator, receives the Ortega y Gasset Award in the Best Photography category and wins the grand prize of the international photography contest "Overcoming the covid" from the Russian TASS Agency.

EFE photojournalist Miguel Gutiérrez wins first prize in the POY (Pictures of the Year) Latam 2021 contest, the most prestigious graphic competition in Latin America.

EFE photojournalist Francisco Guasco wins the Jalisco Journalism Award.

EFE Verifica consolidates itself as an international actor in fact-checking with its participation in European and Latin American initiatives after joining the global base of hoaxes #CoronaVirusFacts, #LatamChequeaVacunas, a similar initiative that brings together content from the main fact-checkers in Latin America. It also joins IBERIFIER, a digital media observatory for Spain and Portugal, promoted by the European Commission and linked to the European Digital Media Observatory (EDMO) and launches a profile on Tik Tok, the first on EFE.

The RAE and the EFE Agency sign an agreement to relaunch the FUNDÉU, which is renamed FundeuRAE. It is a young institution that has built an enormous reputation. The two great promoters of FundéuRAE, the Royal Academy of the Spanish Language and the EFE Agency, are committed to guaranteeing its viability, always preserving the unity of the linguistic criteria.

Queen Letizia has held the honorary presidency of FundéuRAE since January 2021.

In 2022, EFE renews its brand image and changes its logo. The central unit for planning and coordinating information coverage is renewed at the agency's headquarters in Madrid, which, in addition to improving information flows, allows the use of spaces to be reorganized with greater efficiency, rationality, and savings. A large Audiovisual area is created that integrates video, photography and audio, which allows, among other things, to reinforce the commitment to the podcast.

EFE and Amazon announce a podcast project: “Mental Taboo” that addresses mental health problems.

The first training course in Gender Perspective and Equality was launched for the entire workforce.

The ceremony of the thirty-ninth edition of the Rey de España International Journalism Awards premieres its most prestigious, renewed and updated awards, which reduce their categories to six to give priority to stories of journalistic excellence beyond support, and with an economic amount of 10,000 euros, at the Pulitzer level, which consolidates them as the most recognized in the Ibero-American sphere.

EFE photojournalist Sáshenka Gutiérrez receives the Ortega y Gasset Award in the category of Best Photography.

The EFE delegate in Brussels Catalina Guerrero receives the Salvador de Madariaga Award.

EFE photojournalist Esteban Biba receives the London Photography Awards.

EFE Agency, awarded for the best project in digital transformation of the European Stars4Media program for working on the development of an artificial intelligence model for video applied to the processes of cataloging, identification and distribution of media content.

The Urgent Spanish Department

In 1980, he created the Department of Urgent Spanish to combine criteria and standards, as well as to avoid linguistic dispersion and the indiscriminate use of neologisms in Spanish. The department is made up of linguists and philologists together with the Style Advisory Council made up of members of the RAE, professors of Philology and journalists. Its main tool is the Urgent Spanish Manual (MEU), the EFE Agency's style manual, which is a very popular Spanish user manual. It began publication in 1976.

In 2005, the Urgent Spanish Foundation (FUNDÉU) was established.

In 2021, the RAE and the EFE Agency sign an agreement to relaunch the FUNDÉU, which is renamed FundéuRAE. It is a young institution that has built an enormous reputation. The two great promoters of FundéuRAE, the Royal Academy of the Spanish Language and the EFE Agency, are committed to guaranteeing its viability, always preserving the unity of the linguistic criteria.

Queen Letizia has held the honorary presidency of FundéuRAE since January 2021.