A farewell at the Museo do Pobo Galego

Xosé Manuel Beiras, the Galician nationalist leader, economist and intellectual, died on Thursday at the age of 90. On Friday his coffin arrived at the Museo do Pobo Galego in Santiago de Compostela, where the public farewell opened at midday. The coffin was covered with the Galician flag designed by Alfonso Daniel Rodríguez Castelao, and a brown hat lay on top of it beside red carnations. A wreath of white roses carried the motto 'Bo e Xeneroso', while flowers came from his own organisation Anova, from Más Madrid and Sumar, and from ERC and Bildu. The Parliament of Galicia, where Beiras had served as a deputy, also sent a floral tribute. The family decided to give anyone who wished to say goodbye the chance to do so before the burial at Boisaca.

Tributes from the Bloque and the Socialists

Ana Pontón, national spokesperson of the BNG, paid tribute at the museum and said Beiras had been more than a politician who shaped Galician nationalism. She called him a figure who had marked the history of Galicia and many generations, including her own.

“More than a politician who marked the history of Galician nationalism, the history of Galicia and many generations.”

Pontón said his great heart and humanity could help find a path to follow in times of so much polarisation. Ana Miranda, the Bloque's MEP and a close friend, said messages of support had arrived from Brazil, Argentina, the Frente Polisario and Palestine, which she attributed to his international dimension. She recalled a trip with Beiras to the World Social Forum in India, where he began to cry on seeing people eating in the sewers.

“He was always with internationalist solidarity.”

José Ramón Gómez Besteiro, secretary general of the PSdeG, praised his commitment to Galicia and said he would remember the sadness of the loss alongside the good memories. Emilio Pérez Touriño, a former Socialist president of the Xunta, called his political and ethical contribution unquestionable and described him as the maximum reference of Galician nationalism.

Abel Caballero asks for a day of mourning

Abel Caballero, mayor of Vigo, asked the Xunta to rectify and declare a day of mourning for Beiras. Caballero had been the PSdeG candidate in the 1997 regional elections, the first 'sorpasso' in which Beiras led the BNG. He said Beiras had always supported him, including when Caballero was in exile at Cambridge and Beiras helped him obtain a scholarship that made his doctorate possible. He also described Beiras as a professor who taught a whole generation of Galician politicians about the value of Galicia.

“Beiras was an exceptional and extraordinary man in this country.”

Caballero said the recognition Beiras received was almost unanimous, except in institutional settings, and that the Xunta had to rectify its position.

Government and PP responses

José López Campos, the Galician conselleiro of Culture, Language and Youth, attended on behalf of the government of Alfonso Rueda, together with the secretary general for language, Valentín García, and PPdeG secretary general Paula Prado. He described Beiras as a reference in the construction of contemporary Galicia and said that, beyond ideological differences, people remember the person.

“He leaves an important mark on Galicia.”

Paula Prado said that Rueda and the whole PPdeG had expressed their condolences, and she defended the absence of a message from Alberto Núñez Feijóo. Asked about the silence, she replied as follows.

“There are very many political references and every day we are posting tweets about many things.”

Prado also objected to the Socialists asking for a minute of silence for Maricarmen Abascal, a woman evicted in Madrid who died on Wednesday, because she had no link to Galicia. She said it surprised her that nobody had asked for a minute of silence for Beiras on the same day.