A Spanish-language daily newspaper, publishing Monday through Friday, has begun distribution in San Diego from headquarters on Third Avenue in Chula Vista. Diario Latino is the brainchild of Jose Santiago Healy, the founder of Tijuana’s Frontera newspaper and whose family established newspapers in Mexicali and Hermosillo.

Santiago Healy, president of Healy Media Inc., says San Diego’s Hispanics want daily information in Spanish about what’s happening in their communities, in California, along the border and in Mexico. "The objective of Diario Latino will be to connect Spanish-speaking people and organizations with the Latin world," Healy says, adding that the publication will promote the values and roots of the Hispanic culture.

“The readers want a complete newspaper, useful in their daily lives and with specific topics that support them in building a better life.”

Heading the editorial product is Alejandro Maciel, a veteran of Excelsior in Orange County, Diario La Prensa of New York, People en Español and the weekly El Latino in San Diego.

Alicia Salter Mora, marketing and sales director for Diario Latino, has served in marketing and advertising positions in California for 20 years, including a stint with La Opinión in Los Angeles.

While San Diego County hosts no other Spanish-language daily, Diario Latino’s most significant competition includes the San Diego Union-Tribune’s weekly Enlace and and the independently owned El Latino, published and edited by Fanny Miller, who objects to Diario Latino’s use of the word “Latino.”

Santiago Healy says Diario Latino’s introductory circulation of 20,000 copies, mostly south of Interstate 8, likely will settle down to 10,000. He plans a second phase expansion to the North County.

Driving Santiago Healy’s decision to enter the San Diego market were some 827,000 Hispanics, about 29 percent of the population, with an annual purchasing power in excess of $9.6 billion and a household income of $46,000.