Fran Ruano, head of art and design at SUR, dies in road accident

SUR's editorial staff was dealt a huge blow yesterday. The Malaga newspaper group's art director, Fran Ruano, died yesterday (Saturday) in a road accident in Jaén province in Andaluciá.

The accident occurred shortly before three o'clock in the afternoon at kilometre 78 of the A-316, in the direction of Alcaudete, where there was a head-on collision, which also left three people seriously injured, including Fran Ruano's passenger. The injured are all admitted to hospital in Jaén.

The 50-year-old journalist from Malaga, with roots in the municipality of Cuevas de San Marcos, had been with the newspaper group for 21 years and was one of the architects of the recent design and modernisation changes - including those at SUR in English and SUR deutsche Ausgabe.

The news has sent shockwaves through his family and the SUR editorial team.

Fran Ruano was head of art and design, and was heavily involved recent major changes at SUR, both in print and on the web, as well as in the redesigns of the regional media of Vocento and ABC, as he was considered one of the best art directors in the country.

Previously, he was head of design at the sports daily newspaper Marca. With a great track record, he had been the architect of SUR winning numerous design awards from the SND, considered the 'Oscars' of journalistic design, over the last few years. Passionate about his work, creative and always friendly, Fran leaves a huge void in the SUR newsroom.

Fran Ruano, who studied at the University of Malaga (second year of Journalism), was one of the great leaders of SUR's editorial team, both for his professional talent and his disposition, as he was always ready to collaborate with others with a smile that hardly ever fell from his face. He managed to create a great art team around him to give SUR a more modern and creative look, both in its paper and digital editions.

The team at the daily newspaper SUR and the staff at SUR in English extend our deepest condolences to Fran's parents and his two sisters, to whom he was very close, as well as to the large network of friends he treasured, because our colleague was above all a great person. Rest in peace, dearest Fran.