The objective of this thesis is to examine the use of the qualifying metaphor in the journalistic informative-interpretative text about the treatment in three newspapers -published in English, Russian and Spanish - terrorist attacks perpetrated in the mid of the last decade in Madrid, Beslan and London, with a time difference of little more than a year. The study has an interdisciplinary character and combines the methodological proposals of linguistics and journalism with more sociological approaches, such as the theory of framing, in order to enrich the interpretation of the phenomenon, in the current trend of the Social Sciences to combine the contribution of different disciplines. The selection of informative topics replies to the similarity between them by the authors of the attacks and their temporality: the acts have jihadist, they are the first manifestations of fundamentalist terrorism in Europe after the 11-S. This proximity provides a fundamental point to establish a comparison in their treatment, which is reinforced by analyzing the information of three selected media on three terrorist actions. Firstly, we selected the 11 March 2004 Madrid train bombings, which was one of the most severe attacks in the Spanish history. Secondly, we refer to the school massacre in Beslan, a town located in the south Russia, which took place from 1st to 3rd September 2004. Thirdly, we chose the London attacks from 7 July 2005. The research recollects news informational texts published during fifteen days after the attacks in El País (Spanish), The Guardian (English) and Izvestia (Russian). The selection of the newspapers in which the events were analyzed responds to their similarities by dissemination and the authority they have in their respective countries: they are high quality newspapers. The theoretic part of the dissertation comprises a comprehensive review of interpretations of the phenomenon of metaphor and its specific role in a journalistic text. We made an overview of the most relevant theories of metaphor from the Classical Antiquity to the interpretation of that figure in cognitive linguistics. The research details the understanding of the figure in the occidental tradition, and the Russian theories which offer another explanation of metaphor. The study holds a particular chapter dedicated to the terrorism and its manifestations at the beginning of the XXI century; origin and evolution of the phenomenon have been explained in this chapter. It also includes the question of news treatment of the attacks from theoretical and practical points of view, focusing on the critical research of the coverage of the attacks from linguistic and deontological perspective. As the objectives of this thesis, we proposed to define the frames used by three newspapers to report on the three attacks and identify the metaphors that were used to transmit them taking into account differences in the stylistic traditions of the papers. After this, it has been opted to analyze to which semantic fields the metaphors belong, from the proposal of Teruel (1997). In this manner we try to determine the relationship between frames and selected metaphors and highlight the differences in the coverage of each of the newspapers. The methodological proposal combines the approach to metaphor frequently used in cognitive linguistics, the interpretative analysis of metaphors in the media of Teruel (1997) and the framing theory applied to the study of journalistic texts. The frame is interpreted as the central idea of news text, and the metaphor as one of the channels of transmission of this, which acts at the level of headers and body of the article. Firstly, we support our study on the contributions of authors as Entman (1991; 1993; 2003), Gamson and Modigliani (1989), Semetko and Valkenburg (2000), Portilla (2012; 2014), among others, to substantiate the approach to the frame as an essential idea of news text. We consider that the treatment of a person or an event in a media is organized on the basis of a general framework, which emphasize some features and hide or smother out others. The Entman’s ideas, which highlight metaphor with symbols, concepts or visual accompaniment, as one of the frame manifestations at the textual level, allow us to connect it with the linguistic analysis. Secondly, our study is build around the proposal of Teruel (1997) on the analysis of journalistic metaphors, which is based on the tenets of cognitive linguistics. The author highlights three components in the structure of the journalistic metaphor: focus (the word that functions as the core of the sentence), framework (which underlines the focus and complete the meaning; in the case of journalistic metaphor including headlines and illustrations) and theme (a set of questions that tells a story). In the interpretive analysis, according to Teruel, we point out the semantic field, the field where comes the semantic translation of the event/situation/person. We opted for the separation of frames according to the aspect of the event they refer: causal frames (ideas about the causes of the attacks, the statement of responsibility about the attack by terrorist groups); descriptive frames (victims, their quantity, origin and personal stories; description of the places of the explosions and the environment; feelings experienced during the attack; information policy, treatment of the attacks in the media and by the Government of the assaulted country); consequences and reactions frames (social consequences of the terrorist attacks; political effects, changes that have generated on the national and international level; reaction they have generated both local or national as international). The empirical analysis includes the suggestions to the general framework of the treatment of the attacks in each of the newspapers; after defining it, we structured the chapters of analysis according to the peculiar frames transmitted by the newspapers. The study recollects more than 206 metaphors selected and divided by the broadcasted frames, and inspected relative to the context, which contains references to the illustrative material, or other rhetorical figures. The research proved to some significant practical and theoretical conclusions about the paper of metaphor in informative-interpretative texts. The results of the study show the power of metaphor to convey in a visual form a thought or a feeling triggered by events of great emotional effect. In contrast, this descriptive character is not manifested with the same intensity at the causes and consequences, like show a lower presence of metaphors linked to these frames. The results of the analysis highlight also the common associations in three languages generated by terrorism and metaphors specific to each of the newspapers. From the methodological point of view, the analysis results show in practice the possibility of combining two methodologies. It underlines the framing as a tool which explains the coverage of an informative object. The frames featured in the news texts show a clear presence of the evaluative component that disseminates a peculiar interpretation of the event, underlining a few aspects that are considered by journalists as the most relevant. The conclusions of the study show that all newspapers agree with the general framework of coverage of the three terrorist attacks that have been analyzed, linking these to the military conflicts in which participates the country: the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq (Spain, United Kingdom) or Chechnya (Russia). The newspapers interpreted every one of the attacks as a response to the respective participation in those conflicts. Among the frames and metaphors that reflect consequences and reactions we found the attribution to terrorist attacks the ability to give lessons, to teach or mark the form of act to countries. The texts affirm the need to combat terrorism at the international level, and the solidarity with the attacked country contributed by the others. The qualitative analysis has been completed with a quantitative approach, which aims to calibrate the weight of the different metaphors. The majority (171; 83%) of the analyzed metaphors correspond to the descriptive frames. A smaller amount of metaphors relates to the consequences and reactions frames (32; 15.5%); we observe the virtual absence of metaphors related to casual frames (3; 1.4 %). This fact can be explained by two causes: the temporal proximity of the event that requires entering more deeply into the description of the event than its consequences, and the specific selection of the corpus (the reflections on the causes are most appropriate for the analytic text than the informational one). The time factor determines the increased presence of metaphors in the days immediately after the attacks, the amount decreases as time passes. The second point of interest is connected with the mostly semantics fields. The newspapers share metaphors of four semantic fields. Firstly, we refer to “Game (world of entertainment)”, using nouns “drama”, “tragedy”, etc., which can be explained by the sense of doom of human destiny that is present in both. Secondly, the metaphors referring to the field “Death” are typical in the three newspapers, (“killing”, “murder”, etc.). Thirdly, the field “Monsters and imagination” presents the terrorist attacks as an inhumane action. Fourthly, there are metaphors that refer to the field “War”, which presence is explained by the armed conflicts with which are connected the attacks and the similarity between terrorism and war. However, it is also important to emphasize certain semantic fields specific to each of the newspapers. The Spanish paper refers to the fields of “Sea” or “Water” and “Geo”, assimilating the attacks to disasters of a maritime or mountainous character, selected because of the proximity to the readers. In the pages of the British newspaper the terrorism is connected to the areas “Industry”, “Money”, “Power and sovereignty”, “Construction”, “Home”, showing the more pragmatic character of the speakers of this language. The Russian newspaper operates by the field “Divinity” and takes in the attacks on the concept of the holy war, reflecting the discussion of controversy in Russian society about the relationship between the Chechen conflict with the radical fundamentalists of Al-Qaeda. The analyzed texts do not show substantial differences in the use and presence of metaphor in three newspapers, due to the perception of a terrorist act as a serious event of emotional affection inside and outside the respective country. The factor of proximity does not affect the emotional level of the metaphors. The list of bibliographies contains sources written in eight languages and includes significant works on the metaphor, the discourse and the journalistic style edited in Russian and unknown in the Western tradition. These sources extend the look to the questions discussed in Western studies.El objetivo de esta tesis es analizar el uso de la metáfora calificativa en los textos periodísticos informativos-interpretativos, a partir del tratamiento realizado por tres diarios -editados en inglés, ruso y español- sobre los ataques terroristas perpetrados a mediados de la pasada década en Madrid, Beslán y Londres, con una diferencia temporal de poco más de un año. El estudio tiene un carácter interdisciplinar y combina las propuestas metodológicas de la lingüística y el periodismo, pero también enfoques de carácter más sociológico, como la teoría del framing, para enriquecer la aproximación al fenómeno, en la línea actual de las Ciencias Sociales de aunar la aportación de disciplinas diferentes. La selección de los tres temas informativos responde a la similitud entre ellos, tanto por los autores de los ataques como por su temporalidad, puesto que se trata de atentados de carácter yihadista, en las primeras manifestaciones del terrorismo fundamentalista en Europa, tras los ataques del 11-S. Esta proximidad ofrece un punto de partida fundamental a la hora de establecer una comparación en el tratamiento, que se refuerza al analizar las informaciones de los tres medios seleccionados sobre las tres acciones terroristas. La primera de ellas incluye los atentados contra los trenes de cercanías en Madrid, el 11 de marzo 2004, uno de los ataques más graves en la historia de España; la segunda remite a la masacre del colegio en Beslán, la ciudad situada en el sur de Rusia, que tuvo lugar del 1 al 3 de septiembre 2004; y la tercera, a los atentados producidos en Londres el 7 de julio 2005. La investigación recoge los textos publicados en El País (español), The Guardian (inglés) e Izvestia (ruso) en los quince días posteriores a los atentados. La selección de los periódicos responde también a su carácter equiparable, tanto en lo que respecta a la difusión como a la autoridad con la que cuentan en sus países respectivos, puesto que se trata de medios con unos estándares reconocidos de calidad. La parte teórica del presente trabajo engloba una amplia revisión de las diferentes aproximaciones al fenómeno de la metáfora, incluyendo su papel en los textos periodísticos. Para ello se hace un repaso de las teorías más relevantes de la metáfora desde la Antigüedad clásica hasta la interpretación de dicha figura por la lingüística cognitiva. La investigación detalla tanto la mirada sobre ella en la tradición occidental, como las teorías rusas que complementan la explicación sobre la metáfora. El estudio incluye un capítulo particular dedicado al terrorismo y sus manifestaciones a principios del siglo XXI, donde se revisa la procedencia histórica y la evolución del fenómeno. Se aborda el tratamiento informativo del mismo, tanto desde el punto de vista teórico como práctico, incidiendo en las investigaciones críticas sobre la cobertura de los ataques, desde los aspectos lingüísticos a los aspectos deontológicos. Entre los objetivos del presente trabajo se ha planteado definir los encuadres empleados por los tres diarios al informar sobre cada uno de los atentados e identificar las metáforas que usaron para transmitirlos, teniendo en cuenta las diferencias en las tradiciones culturales y estilísticas de los mismos. Tras ello se ha optado por analizar a qué esferas semánticas pertenecen las metáforas, a partir de la clasificación ofrecida por Teruel (1997). De este modo se pretende determinar la relación entre encuadres y esferas semánticas de las metáforas extraídas de los textos, para observar las diferencias en la cobertura informativa de cada uno de los diarios. La propuesta metodológica aborda las aproximaciones a la metáfora en la lingüística cognitiva, el análisis interpretativo en los medios de comunicación y la teoría del encuadre (framing) aplicada al estudio de los textos periodísticos. El encuadre se interpreta como una idea esencial del texto noticioso, y la metáfora como uno de los canales de la transmisión de este, que actúa tanto en los titulares como en el cuerpo de artículo. En primer lugar, el estudio se apoya en aportaciones de autores como Entman (1991; 1993; 2003), Gamson y Modigliani (1989), Semetko y Valkenburg (2000) o Portilla (2012; 2014), entre otros, para fundamentar el acercamiento, que tiene el encuadre o frame como una idea central. Partimos de que el tratamiento de un evento o una persona en un medio de comunicación se organizan a partir de un marco general, subrayando unas características y ocultando o suavizando otras. Las tesis de Entman, que destaca la metáfora, junto con símbolos, conceptos o acompañamiento visual, como una de las manifestaciones del encuadre noticioso a nivel textual, permiten conectar este aspecto con el análisis lingüístico. En segundo lugar, el análisis se fundamenta en las aportaciones de Teruel para el análisis de las metáforas periodísticas, que parte, a su vez, de los postulados de la lingüística cognitiva. En la estructura de la metáfora periodística la autora destaca tres componentes: el foco (la palabra que funciona como el núcleo de la frase), el marco (lo que subraya al foco y completa el significado; en el caso de la metáfora periodística se incluyen titulares e ilustraciones) y el tema (el conjunto de cuestiones que aborda el artículo). En la parte interpretativa del análisis, siguiendo a Teruel, se destaca la esfera de traslación semántica de la metáfora, como el campo de referencia de donde procede esta. Para abordar los encuadres desde los que se presentan las informaciones se ha optado por separarlos de acuerdo al aspecto del acontecimiento al cual se refieren: encuadres causales (las causas de los ataques, la responsabilidad de los grupos terroristas); encuadres descriptivos (presentación de los lugares en los que han tenido lugar las explosiones; las víctimas e historias personales; los sentimientos experimentados durante el ataque; la política informativa, el tratamiento de los ataques en los medios y por parte del Gobierno del país atacado); y encuadres de consecuencias y reacciones (los efectos sociales de los atentados, tanto a nivel político como de reacción social, con los cambios que pudieran provocar a nivel nacional e internacional).