Departures of note

Pilar Malla Escofet was born in Port d'Armentera in 1931. She began her public career after teaching at the Institut Catòlic d'Estudis Socials de Barcelona, becoming director of the Social Services of the Conselleria de Sanitat in 1978. Her life remained closely tied to Càritas Diocesana de Barcelona, where she held various leadership roles between 1981 and 1998, and she was a founder and vice president of the Centre Català de Solidaritat.

She entered politics as an independent within the PSC parliamentary group, backed by the Ciutadans pel Canvi platform between 1999 and 2003, at the request of Pasqual Maragall, chairing the Social Policy commission and serving on the immigration policy study commission. In 2004 she was unanimously chosen by the Barcelona plenary as the city's first Síndic de Greuges, serving a five-year mandate that gave the institution its distinctive social character.

Her work on behalf of the most disadvantaged earned her many honors, including the Creu de Sant Jordi (2004), the Memorial Joan XXIII per la Pau (1985), the Lluís Carulla honor prize (1988), and the Cruz de Oro of the Civil Order of Social Solidarity from the Spanish government (1996). She died at the age of 95, leaving a legacy of community service to Barcelona and Catalonia.