Xabier Macias Virgós (born 16 February 1958) is a

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

psychologist and activist. As of 2008 he is appointed president of the Centre Maurits Coppieters. (With a renewed mandate until 2020)

Early life

He was born in

Vigo Vigo (, ; ) is a city and Municipalities in Spain, municipality in the province of province of Pontevedra, Pontevedra, within the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia, Spain. Located in the northwest ...

, Galicia,

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

on 16 February 1958. In 1982 Virgós graduated from the

University of Santiago de Compostela The University of Santiago de Compostela - USC (, ) is a public university located in the city of Santiago de Compostela, Galicia, Spain. A second campus is located in Lugo, Galicia. It is one of the world's oldest universities in continuous o ...

with a degree in psychology. His training and professional activity were mainly in the field of community intervention and social services.

Career

He worked as a psychologist for the Municipal Educational Psychology Unit in the cities of

Alicante Alicante (, , ; ; ; officially: ''/'' ) is a city and municipalities of Spain, municipality in the Valencian Community, Spain. It is the capital of the province of Alicante and a historic Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean port. The population ...

and El Campello, both in the

Valencian community The Valencian Community is an Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain. It is the fourth most populous Spanish Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community after Andalusia, Catalonia and the Community of Madrid wit ...

until 1992. He then returned to Galicia where he spent five years as Social Services Coordinator in the town of

Allariz Allariz is a town and municipality () in the province of Ourense, in the autonomous community of Galicia, Spain. It occupies the center of the western half of the province, connecting with the towns (''concellos'') of Taboadela, Paderne, Sand ...

and subsequently as a psychologist on the technical team of the

Pontevedra Pontevedra (, ) is a city in the autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia, in northwestern Spain. It is the capital of both the ''Pontevedra (comarca), Comarca'' and Province of Pontevedra, and the capital of the Rías Baixas. It is als ...

juvenile court. He became a university expert in assessment, planning and supervision of social insertion policies for the UNED (National Distance Learning University). Macias held many positions in professional psychology organizations between 1993 and 2002. He was the Head of the Educational Psychology Area (1996–2000) in the national governing body for the Spanish College of Psychologists and, in December 2000, he was elected as the first Dean of the Official College of Psychologists of Galicia. He led the Think Tank Fundación Galiza Sempre.

Personal and political life

Since 1975 he has been involved the in political and social organisations of Galicia and the Valencian country. He led the Galiza Sempre foundation (1999-2003), which is dedicated to cultural activities concerning philosophy, history and other subjects of the

Galician nationalism Galician nationalism is a form of nationalism found mostly in Galicia, which asserts that Galicians are a nation and that promotes the cultural unity of Galicians. The political movement referred to as modern Galician nationalism was born at ...

. He developed major international work under the banners of the World Social Forum and the World Network for the Collective Rights of Peoples. Between 2002 and 2003 he was communications secretary on the National Executive of the Bloque Nacionalista Galego (BNG). In 2014, he was re-elected for the third time as president of the Centre Maurits Coppieters, a policy research centre connected to the

European Free Alliance The European Free Alliance (EFA) is a European political party that consists of various regionalist, separatist and minority political parties in Europe. Member parties advocate either for full political independence and sovereignty, or some ...

(EFA-ALE), bringing together 17 think tanks from eight EU Member States.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Virgos, Xabier Macias 1958 births Living people Spanish psychologists University of Santiago de Compostela alumni