Antonio Fontán, the Spanish newspaper editor who was persecuted by the Franco regime for years before his newspaper was forcibly closed down and its offices dynamited, has died aged 86.
He was the editor of the national daily, Madrid, from 1967 and soon became unpopular with the regime for publishing articles defending democracy and civil liberties. The paper was shut down for four months in 1968, suffering heavy financial losses because it continued paying its staff.
Fontán was prosecuted on 19 occasions and fined 10 times before the paper was shut down altogether in 1971. The International Press Institute named him as one of its "heroes of press freedom."
When democracy was restored in Spain after Franco's death and the monarchy was re-established in 1975, the supreme court revoked the order to close down Madrid. The state was ordered to pay damages to the paper, but this was not enough to restart it.
Fontán was elected to the senate in 1977, and was one of the authors of the country's constitution, which recognised freedom of expression and freedom of information as fundamental rights. He also served as a minister of the government from 1979 to 1982.
He also founded the University of Navarre school of journalism. In 2008, he was made Marqués de Guadalcanal by the king, Juan Carlos, in recognition of his contribution to the political freedom and civil peace in Spain.
Antonio Giner writes: "'Don Antonio', as we used to call him, was a real gentleman, a master and a role model for many young journalists of my generation."
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