Spanish media pay insufficient attention to India, correspondents say

Spanish journalists covering India acknowledge the country's immense importance but lament the insufficient attention it receives from domestic media and the public. During a debate hosted by Casa Asia in Madrid, correspondents highlighted the difficulties in making Indian stories resonate with a Spanish audience.

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There is a deficit of attention. I always say that India is the most interesting country in the world, but it struggles to access the pages of our media.

Jordi Joan Baños, who spent a decade as La Vanguardia's correspondent in Asia, noted that India, despite being the "most interesting country in the world," struggles to gain traction in Spanish newspapers. He attributed this partly to the perceived failure of recent Indian political and economic strategies, suggesting that India's current model, which he argued is not the "white hope of capitalism," faces a significant challenge from artificial intelligence's potential to disrupt its service-based employment, particularly call centers.

However, Paloma Almoguera, EFE's editorial director for the Asia-Pacific region, offered a more optimistic outlook. She predicted that India-related news, especially on economic and technological fronts and its regional role, will increasingly feature in EFE's daily dispatches. Almoguera emphasized that "there is more and more space for these stories" and that their success hinges on "telling India from the ground," a practice adopted by EFE's New Delhi-based team.

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There is more and more space for these stories. The fundamental thing for them to succeed is to tell India from the ground.

Elisa Reche, former correspondent for Público and now director of elDiario.es in Murcia, agreed that the narrative surrounding India is beginning to shift. She pointed out that a lingering "orientalist vision," rooted in colonial history, continues to hinder a fresh perspective on the diverse country in the West. The discussion took place within the framework of the "Spain-India Dual Year," an initiative aimed at strengthening bilateral ties.

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the old 'orientalist vision,' inherited from the colonial past, still weighs on the West, which prevents, in my opinion, approaching this very different country with a clean slate.