Founded only two months ago, El Duomo magazine is Florence’s Spanish language magazine and is the first of its kind in the city. The Florentine talks with co-founder Francisco Jaen Martos about the magazine’s origins, aims and ambitious future.
What is El Duomo and how did the idea come about?
El Duomo is the first magazine in Italy that is completely in Spanish. It only started on March 28, but it has been in my head for many years. When I came to Florence ten years ago, I started to become a “blogger, now what we call a “content creator”. I started posting my photographs around Florence and grew really quickly. I wanted to share Tuscany and Florence, just as I was through my blog, but I wanted to make something bigger, completely in Spanish. We founded the magazine to talk exclusively about Tuscany, but it’s going to expand to include all of Italy.
Who’s behind El Duomo?
There’s me and my co-founders, Norma Judith Pagiotti and Ruth Claramonte. We’re talking about art, culture and travel experiences, but we also have a second function called Vivir En Toscana, or Live in Tuscany. We want to be the information point for people who want to move to Florence or Italy and create a community for the Spanish speakers that live here. For example, when Ruth and I came from Valencia a decade ago, we didn’t know anybody and we felt rather alone. Based on that experience, we want to help the people who want to move here not to feel alone. We are forming this community on Facebook and Instagram, and we are working towards publishing a printed edition every three months in the future.
It will also show Spanish speakers that haven’t moved to Florence yet that there is already a community and a space for them. It’s equally important for defining Florence as an international city.
Exactly. Italy is a really multicultural country. There are so many people from so many places, so it’s incredible that there is nothing like this in Spanish. Things are changing and I am so proud of it. There are many people here in Tuscany from Latin America, South America and Spain who live here and don’t know each other yet. They just need the connection. I’m so lucky to have Norma and Ruth helping me with everything and who have believed in this project since day one.
In terms of the articles published in El Duomo, is there a specific focus or will the topics be broader?
We have many kinds of articles. For example, the top 10 rooftop bars, the top 10 beaches to visit in Tuscany or hotels to stay in. We also have what we call Gente De El Duomo (People of El Duomo), which will be interviews and stories of the people living here or who pass through Tuscany who have a story to tell in Spanish. There are many people that make such a big difference in Florence and Tuscany, but people just don’t know about them. Even in their home countries, people don’t know they are making a difference here in Florence. They deserve to tell their story to El Duomo, to the whole world, and the readers deserve to have all of this information in Spanish.
How has the reception been so far from your early readers?
It’s been really surprising. We didn’t expect such a positive reaction from people, including the readers that don’t live in Italy who want to move to Florence or Tuscany in the future. We have really appreciated the response from everybody who has heard about El Duomo without knowing about us before.
And you’re hoping to expand to cover all of Italy in the future?
Exactly, yes. We created El Duomo to be a symbol of Florence but also for the whole of Italy. Every major city has a duomo, so for that reason, our future project is to connect it to cities all over the country.
