Avui was first published on 23 April 1976,[1] (Saint George's day, a symbolic holiday in Catalonia). The founding company was Premsa Catalana.[2] The paper initially relied on the subscriptions of thousands of Catalans for financial support. It soon went into financial problems and changed ownership. A partnership of two publishers along with the Catalan national government itself took over in order to avoid imminent bankruptcy. The Grupo Godó owned 40% of the paper,[3] which had its headquarters in Barcelona.[4]
The Catalan government subsidises with important amounts those Catalan newspapers with at least one Catalan language edition. In 2008 Avui was only second to El Punt in terms of circulation/funds granted, having received almost 1.5 million euros that amounted to 48.9 euros per newspaper sold.[5]
Then it went to change hands again in 2009, being bought by its rival El Punt, and creating the new newspaper El Punt Avui on 31 July 2011.