Departures of note

Xosé Manuel Beiras was a Galician politician, economist, writer and intellectual who became the historic leader of Galician nationalism. Born in Santiago de Compostela, he studied law and economics at the universities of Santiago de Compostela, Paris (Sorbonne) and the London School of Economics, later becoming a professor of structural economy at the University of Santiago de Compostela. He was a founding member of the clandestine Galician Socialist Party in 1963 and served as its secretary general from 1971 to 1977. In 1982 he helped found the Galician Nationalist Bloc (BNG), which he led for more than two decades, taking it to its best-ever result in 1997 with nearly 25 percent of the vote and 18 seats in the Galician Parliament, where he served as leader of the opposition. In 2012 he left the BNG to found Anova-Irmandade Nacionalista, a force that became a reference for the left-wing confluence movements of the so-called new politics. He was also a prolific author and translator of works into Galician, and remained active in anti-globalization movements and the World Social Forum until his death at the age of 90.