Marca was founded on 21 December 1938, at the height of the Spanish Civil War, in nationalist-held San Sebastián.

[9] On 21 December 2007, Marca hosted a gala event, featuring the leading Spanish sportsmen of the 20th century, to celebrate the newspaper's 70th anniversary.

[10] The paper was involved in a dispute with Sir Alex Ferguson from the summer of 2008 when he accused Marca of being Real Madrid's "vehicle to unsettle players".

[22] The publication was helmed by David Sanz of Spain's Official Xbox Magazine,[21][22] which had recently closed.

[21] Its first issue debuted with a circulation of 125,000 copies,[23] and José Manuel González of Vandal wrote that it "had a very good start thanks to a very affordable price of 1.9 euros".

However, he stated that the magazine failed to capture long-term market share, unlike sister publications such as MarcaMotor.