Using the present in Spanish to narrate past events

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In Spanish, we can use El Presente to narrate events that occured in the past. These are the different situations when we would make this use of El Presente:

When is  El Presente used to narrate the past?

In written literature

This is a technique used in literature, in written texts. It is very common to use the Present tense in biographies or books that talk about historic events, this usage is called "El Presente histórico" or "El Presente narrativo".

Here are some examples:

Cristóbal Colón descubre América en 1492.Christopher Columbus discovered (lit: discovers) América in 1492.

El 15 de abril de 1912 se hunde el Titanic.On April 15th 1912 the Titanic sank. (lit: sinks)

Constantinopla cae en manos de los Otomanos en mayo de 1453.Constantinople fell into Ottoman hands in May 1453. (lit: falls)

Using the present tense is a way of making the event feel closer to the present time at the moment of reading.

In newspapers

It is precisely to have this effect of being close in time that means it is also often used in newspapers both in headlines and the actual article. This makes the reader feel as if these events are "new and fresh", despite being in the past. 

For example:

Descubren una civilización maya bajo una selva de Guatemala.Mayan civilization discovered under a Guatemalan jungle. (Lit: they discover)

El gobierno catalán pide explicaciones al ministro de Educación.The Catalonian government asks the Education minister for explanations.

In colloquial narrative

When someone is narrating a story that happened in the past, we sometimes use El Presente in certain parts of the story when we want to make that bit more "interesting" by giving it dramatic effect

For example:

Ayer, mientras estábamos en el concierto, se escucha un ruido y la gente sale corriendo...Yesterday, while we were at the concert, we heard (lit: hear) a noise and people (lit: start) started running...

...y Luisa me mira y me dice: ¡ven aquí rápido!...and Luisa looks at me and says: come here quickly!

You might wonder why using El Presente in these contexts is considered higher-level when you learned about El Presente as a beginner. This is because the type of texts that use this narrative technique are nearly always advanced texts. 
See also a similar lesson on the future and conditional to narrate past actions: Using the simple conditional/the simple future to narrate past actions in Spanish

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Examples and resources

Ayer, mientras estábamos en el concierto, se escucha un ruido y la gente sale corriendo...Yesterday, while we were at the concert, we heard (lit: hear) a noise and people (lit: start) started running...
Cristóbal Colón descubre América en 1492.Christopher Columbus discovered (lit: discovers) América in 1492.
El 15 de abril de 1912 se hunde el Titanic.On April 15th 1912 the Titanic sank. (lit: sinks)
Constantinopla cae en manos de los Otomanos en mayo de 1453.Constantinople fell into Ottoman hands in May 1453. (lit: falls)
...y Luisa me mira y me dice: ¡ven aquí rápido!...and Luisa looks at me and says: come here quickly!
El gobierno catalán pide explicaciones al ministro de Educación.The Catalonian government asks the Education minister for explanations.
Descubren una civilización maya bajo una selva de Guatemala.Mayan civilization discovered under a Guatemalan jungle. (Lit: they discover)
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