In 2014 Royal Mail unveiled the new postal kiosks developed by Intelligent AR (IAR) at Spring Stampex in London (see article, also published in VARIABLE 32). In the years that followed, several postal administrations acquired this equipment, including Spanish Post – Correos. The kiosk arrived in Spain two years later and was unveiled at the 48th National Stamp Fair in Madrid, held from April 21st to 24th 2016 (article & VARIABLE 41).
That single self-service postal kiosk, with the code ES01, marked the start of a new era in the collecting of variable value stamps in Spain, and is the origin of what we now know as ‘IAR’ stamp issues, although shortly afterwards the philatelic service developed and launched a back-office computer system capable of printing variable value stamps with characteristics similar to those of the IAR kiosk.
Over the last ten years, the kiosk has been in operation in public areas and has travelled to various philatelic events across the country. No other machine manufactured by Intelligent AR has had a longer or more productive lifespan. But by 2026, the kiosk is now reaching the end of its useful life and, despite all the repairs, upgrades and component replacements, it is experiencing increasing operational problems; in fact, at the time of writing, it has been out of service for almost 6 months.
Ten years of the kiosk, ten years of ‘IAR’-style issues. From just a couple of designs in 2016, the output has grown to 10–12 new designs per year, nearly 100 ATM designs issued over ten years, with dozens of varieties, special imprints, international issues, and associated products… the ATMs have become the star product and the centrepiece of many of the events (philatelic and otherwise) in which Correos’ philatelic service participates; undoubtedly, another success story.
To mark this tenth anniversary, the philatelic service decided to release a special series combining two designs in a format similar to the ‘Mortadelo and Filemón’ series from April 2025 (see article), with the commemorative design appearing on every fifth stamp on the roll. This arrangement would once again result in several possible combinations of face values and designs, and the creation of a new ‘Master Set’ (see image below).
The first design, ‘Plazas Filatélicas’ (‘Philatelic squares’), shows an image of Madrid’s Plaza Mayor framed by the arcades. The special 10th-anniversary commemorative design features the first two ATM issues released in 2016. Furthermore, for the first time, this commemorative design has a dark blue background (rather than white) in the area where the stamp’s details are printed; this is because the new thermal transfer printers are able to print on (almost) any type of label roll.
To ensure the details are visible against both a white and a dark blue background, the philatelic service decided to print the stamps in colour, rather than in black, using a printing ribbon in a colour called ‘Oro Viejo’ (‘Old gold’).
(English edition rewritten by J. Gareze – August 2026)
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