Spain and the United States - Real Instituto Elcano

THE SPANISH PLAYERS IN THE UNITED STATES 69
already the largest ethnic group or majority in several of its largest cities. 3
Rumbo mixes local news and sports with dispatches from Latin America. Its
combined circulation is around 100,000 a day. Other newspapers in the same
areas reacted with pre-emptive attacks, creating or buying Spanish-language
newspapers to compete with Rumbo. In Austin, for instance, The Austin
American-Statesman, owned by Cox Newspapers, introduced ¡ahora sí!, a free
Spanish-language paper.
Rumbo is targeting first-generation immigrants, mostly from Mexico, who
get all their news from Spanish-language sources, according to the Pew
Hispanic Center in Washington. However, some analysts believe that the
market for Spanish-language newspapers over the long term is not strong, as
the more acculturated the Hispanic community becomes, the more likely it is
to read English. Recoletos sold its stake in Meximerica Media, the publisher of
Rumbo, in May 2005.
In the food industry, Ebro Puleva acquired Houston’s Riviana Foods, the
United States’ largest rice processor, in 2004 for $380 million. Ebro Puleva has
a 30% market share of the rice sector in Europe. With its Carolina, Mahatma
and Success brands, Riviana is the main seller of rice in the United States by
volume (17% market share), and it has subsidiaries in Central America,
Belgium and the United Kingdom. Riviana and Ebro Puleva had been partners
for years – before the deal Ebro was Riviana’s largest shareholder – and they
have participated in many joint ventures. Another Spanish company, Grupo
SOS, owns American Rice, also based in Houston and one of the world’s
premier millers and marketers of branded rice products including AA Rice,
Adolphus Rice and Wonder Rice.
In wines, Torres has vineyards in California for Chardonnay and Pinot
Noir cultivation and Freixenet, the world’s largest producer of sparkling wine
(cava), has vineyards in the Sonoma Valley (and in Mexico). Freixenet’s main
rival, Codorníu, also has vineyards in California (Napa).
2. Spanish Banks in the United States
Compared to their massive investment over the past decade in buying
Latin American banks, Santander and Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria
(BBVA), Spain’s two largest banks, have been very modest in their acquisitions
in the United States. Santander, Spain’s largest bank and the biggest in the Euro
zone by market capitalisation, and BBVA own banks in the associated free state
of Puerto Rico, and BBVA has two small banks in the United States.
3. See “A Texas Paper Bets on Español, Not Assimilation”, by Simon Romero (New York Times, January
31, 2005).