Spanish newspaper comes to Austin         By: Allie Rasmus

This fall, Austin will be home to a second daily newspaper, but it will be in Spanish. El Rumbo will make its debut in San Antonio by the end of July.
A Houston and Rio Grande Valley version will begin publishing in August, and a local Austin version of it is slated to hit news stands in September.
El Rumbo will run Monday – Friday and will cost 25 cents an issue. It will be tabloid-sized and aimed at Hispanics between the ages of 21 and 45.
“Rumbo” comes from the very common phrase among Mexicans, "Voy rumbo al norte" that means "I'm heading north," implying the search for a better life.
"The name reflects the experience of where they come from and the experience of how they want to move up in life. And we're there to try and service them and help them," said Edward Schumacher Matos, the CEO of Meximerica Media, the paper’s publisher.

The Austin area already has a handful of Spanish-language weekly papers, but people said they believe there's room for a Spanish daily newspaper. "We don't have a newspaper that comes out everyday. When the weeklies come out, I read them, but during the week there is more news happening I want to know about,” Austin resident Eduardo Villareal said.
El Rumbo will include Mexican, U.S. and international news, as well as sports, entertainment and lifestyle content.
According to the 2000 census, 22 percent of households in Travis County spoke Spanish as a first language at home; Hays County had 21 percent.
"There are so many Hispanics, and especially Spanish-speaking Hispanics that there was a market that was crying to be met and there wasn't much competition," Matos said.
Meximerica Media hopes to corner that market.
"What I think it represents is the new growth in a new demographic," Marc Rodriguez of the Greater Austin Hispanic Chamber of Commerce said.Meximerica Media has signed a contract with the Austin American-Statesman to use their printing press.