📑Welcome to “Columnas,” the Substack Journal in Spanish
Join users who receive a quick, free, daily summary of world news and essential Substack articles. Handcrafted by real humans, in a short summary.
📑Welcome to “Columnas,” the Substack Journal in Spanish
Follow the topics, creators, and newsletters that interest you and matter to you, all in one place.
Note: Check out our testimonial page for now...
🔗 Join those who receive a quick, free, daily summary of world news and essential Substack articles. Handcrafted by real humans, in a short summary.
This publication selects the top global and Substack news stories and delivers them in an easy-to-read format, with no ads or clickbait, that you can read in just a few minutes. You don't need to fight through digital clutter to read your local news, because we've already done it for you.
Plus, we bring you a summary or spoiler of the latest articles published on Substack.
Oh, and it's FREE.
For fiction lovers: Under the auspices of Mercedes de Santiago, who already does something similar in her “link roundup” in “Mil y Una Historias,” we have launched Crónicas de Substack, a somewhat similar project about fiction articles published in Spanish on Substack, which will appear every Sunday.
✂ Information is more fragmented than ever
But people's need to know hasn't gone away. The world has many useful sources of news. It's hard to keep up. Some media outlets are professional and prolific. Others are run as hobbies or anonymously and are the subject of local legends.
But keeping up with everything is difficult, especially with certain problematic social media platforms making life harder. I'm not sure billionaires or artificial intelligence should decide how much news or stories you get to see. And so much good journalism gets buried under annoying ads and clickbait. So I get up early every day to curate everything for you.
With this Substack journal, you have an ally against the excess of irrelevant information. You'll be better protected against social media algorithms that serve up low-quality content for the sole purpose of hooking you with an endless stream of controversial opinions and ads. And while this hasn't happened yet on Substack Notes, there are days when it feels like it has.
Now you can follow your favorite topics and newsletters without having to visit and browse them regularly. Columns can be your place for everything that's important to your work and free time in the Substack universe, but it's not a replacement for the newsletters you're already subscribed to. Keep reading the ones you receive in your inbox.
Here are several reasons why we started this:
1. Because it didn't exist
There are many curators on Substack, but hardly any of them curate other articles published on Substack, at least in Spanish.
On the other hand, information about Substack news, trends, and changes is decentralized and in English. I think there's a need for a place to centralize this information.
2. Because it should be
Are you tired of Substack not selecting the section you're interested in (culture, business, etc.) from its “Top In” list? Well, the time for complaining is over!
I'm not here to blame an algorithm or anyone you think is “playing the system.” No more pointless arguments that get us nowhere. It's time to take action!
In short, we will highlight good articles by topic, in Spanish, with the help of Mercedes de Santiago, David, Roberto, and N. Benedetta. An archive of all publications will be created where anyone can recommend their own nonfiction pieces or those of others for inclusion in the Top (perhaps weekly) if they explain why.
Because we want to provide perspective, describe but also explain why we liked an article. (We have enlisted the help of Robin Good for this strategy.)
This way, everyone can check out the comments section to discover stories that are worth reading.
3. Why Substack?
I am convinced that Substack has (almost) all the technology needed for a discreet news website, and more. Because it has a great community.
In addition, I would like to invite anyone who has something to share to help me select the most interesting hidden gems from the Spanish-language Substack universe. We'll start with just a few, but eventually I'd love to see us become a network of curators and contributors. That's where Substack's tools really become powerful. More on that below. For now, we'll keep it simple with...
4. “Columns”
To start, you'll receive a daily email with links in your inbox. Every morning, free of charge. We've been curating these links in stealth mode for a month or so, to get a feel for the format. The posts you'll receive throughout the week will be based on sources I find useful and that others have sent me. Columns will have other ramifications/threads/series, but in today's launch and for the next few weeks, you'll receive a single short-form daily newsletter. We've also thought about an additional weekend guide and a weekly newsletter on culture, Substack's complete roundup of all things creative.
📄 Some Benefits
Here are some benefits I can think of for receiving this publication, for now:
Follow Substack news and events
Stay up to date on everything happening at Substack, including emerging trends, new features, issues, and events.
Follow your favorite newsletters and creators
We curate content that interests you and bring you the best of the nonfiction Substack universe in one place.
Discover new newsletters and articles
Explore featured collections on different topics and find the best sources (newsletters or individual articles) selected by our team. If an article catches your eye, you can easily follow its source!
There is a traffic ranking that the Substack Journal links to other Substack articles. Not only does this help other Substacks get more traffic, but it also makes the Journal a real tool for discovering what's out there in the Spanish-language Substack universe, without relying on Notas.
Listen to your favorite podcasts
A modern journal serves a lot of purposes, not just for reading. One use we can give it is to follow podcasts. Normally, you read an article, close it, and move on to the next one. But podcasts are usually longer than 60 minutes. Since Substack lets you read and listen at the same time, we want you to be able to close the article you're reading and continue in the Journal while the podcast plays in the background.
👀 Help us discover what's happening on Substack: Give us a tip
Sometimes, the most important stuff isn't published, and it's definitely not always published by the Substack team. If you see an important trend, issue, or new feature, please explain it in the comments section of any of my notes and we'll look into it.
Share your stories with Columns securely and confidentially
Some of the most important stories published by some media outlets have come about thanks to confidential information. If you have something sensitive to share with us and want it to remain confidential (you don't want anyone else to see what you share), please contact us via DM or suggest an alternative method (email, etc.).
💬 Overcome news avoidance with “Columnas,” the Substack community newspaper in Spanish
News avoidance is understandable. But let's not lose the news completely. Let's reinvent it. Think globally, start in a niche.
El Diario de Substack en español (about Substack) is an initiative for the Spanish-speaking community in which a dozen writers collaborate, with more to be added, with the following content:
Mentions and links to non-fiction articles, divided into topics, published the day before (or earlier), with a “Great Story.”
News about Substack (new features, trends, tips, problems, etc.). What gets published and what doesn't.
Summaries of three key news stories of the day (not links, but the full summary).
A featured quote.
You can participate too. Have you read a great article that was shared this week that isn't in the newsletters featured here? Or have you written an incredible non-fiction story that you published recently? If so, include it in the comments with an explanation of why you think it should be in the next issue. And we'll do it, with a mention of you, so that the author you selected knows it's you.
Salvador Lorca
Co-founder and curator.
