AVOID THE PASSIVE VOICE IN SPANISH

Years ago my daughter Lorraine gifted me a copy of Strunk & White´s The Elements of Style which I still have and use. In section 14, Use of the active voice we read: "The active voice is usually more vigorous than the passive." In Spanish, the passive voice has been shunned for centuries until now. My guess is that those who study English and see the use of the passive voice by inept writers, tend to import it into Spanish, which does not need it, composing awkward sentences like: "El ladrón fue detenido por la policía" instead of "la policía detuvo al ladrón." Everybody in Spain (at least in Spain) has jumped into the bandwagon of the passive voice, especially the media, and mostly television. They might say: "El aceite es vendido a un precio más alto que hace un año" instead of "el aceite se vende a un precio más alto..." 

If you are studying Spanish, please avoid the passive voice. Do yourself that favor.