Election and Puigdemont's return: 2024's top stories on Catalonia in international press

The Catalan election and the return of Carles Puigdemont on the day of Salvador Illa's inauguration as president were the two top stories about Catalonia in the international press in 2024. 

A report by Catalonia International published this week found that foreign media interest in Catalan politics decreased slightly compared to previous years, while social, cultural and sports articles increased. 

Puigdemont's return to Catalonia on the day of Illa's inauguration had a generally negative impact on Catalonia's image abroad, according to the report. 

Although politics provided the two top stories, the report highlighted the increase in interest in social issues, such as the impact of the drought and protests against mass tourism.  

The study found around 1,000 articles related to Catalonia were published in the ten newspapers analyzed: The Washington Post and The New York Times from the United States, The Guardian and The Daily Telegraph from the United Kingdom, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung and Süddeutsche Zeitung from Germany, Corriere della Sera and La Repubblica from Italy, and Le Figaro and Le Monde from France. 

The French newspapers carried the most stories, 254, followed closely by the Italian ones with 249. 

The newspapers with most articles on Catalonia were Le Figaro with 146 and Corriere della Sera with 137.