The publication was founded on 29 October 1890 by Felipe Ducazcal Lasheras [es], a former close acquaintance of Amadeo I.

[2] In 1893, the newspaper was bought by the Canalejas brothers, José and Luis [es], and a number of political supporters of the former.

[3] Since then, it would grow to become a major publication,[4] as well as the mouthpiece of the Democratic Liberal political platform of José Canalejas.

[4] By the early 1910s, following the 1906 acquisition of the newspaper by the Sociedad Editorial de España [es] (the so-called "Trust"), the Heraldo came to adhere to the political platform of Segismundo Moret, rival of Canalejas (then prime minister) within the Liberal party.

[10][7] However the Francoists did not enter the city in 1936, and the daily, whose direction was assumed by Federico Morena by 1937,[11] endured more than two years with a reduced staff.