Left Bloc for National Liberation

Left Bloc for National Liberation (Catalan: Bloc d'Esquerra d'Alliberament Nacional, BEAN) was a coalition and, later, political party in Catalonia and Valencia, Spain. BEAN was an independentist and socialist party, that defended a Socialist Federal Republic of the Catalan Countries.^[1]

Left Bloc for National Liberation Bloc d'Esquerra d'Alliberament Nacional
Spokesperson	Lluís Maria Xirinacs Fèlix Cucurull i Tey Josep Guia
Founded	1979 (1979) (coalition) 1980 (1980) (political party)
Dissolved	1982 (1982)
Merger of	Catalan Workers Bloc Socialist Party of National Liberation (1979-1980) POUM (1980)
Succeeded by	NE MDT
Headquarters	Barcelona
Newspaper	Temps de Tempesta
Ideology	Revolutionary socialism Communism Catalan independence Pancatalanism
Political position	Far-left
Politics of Catalonia Political parties Elections

History

Formed in 1979 as a coalition between the Catalan Workers Bloc (BCT)^[2] and the Socialist Party of National Liberation (PSAN), along with some independents, like Lluís Maria Xirinacs. In the local elections of that year the coalition gained 19 town councillors and 2 mayors (Arbúcies and Sant Pere de Ribes^[3]). In the city of Barcelona the Bloc withdrew the candidacy, supporting the PSUC and the Socialists' Party of Catalonia.^[4] In the general elections of the same year the coalition obtained 46,962 votes for Congreso de los Diputados in Catalonia (1.59%) and 9,620 votes (0.51%) in the Valencian Country. For Senate BEAN supported the successful independent candidacy of Lluís Maria Xirinacs in Barcelona.

In 1980, after the departure of PSAN and POUM, the coalition became a party. In the Catalan autonomic elections of that year BEAN only obtained 14,077 votes (0.52%), failing to gain any seat. The party disappeared in 1982, with many of its members joining either Left Nationalists or the Movement for Defence of the Land.^[5]

References

1. «Bloc d'Esquerra d'Alliberament Nacional». L'Enciclopèdia.cat.
2. BCT www.marxists.org
3. In Sant Pere the coalition was known as Unitat Municipal 9.
4. El Bloc d'Esquerra se retira en Barcelona y recomienda el voto a PSC y PSUC.
5. Del BEAN, NE i la Crida a l'MDT i Terra Lliure (1978-1988). L'independentisme sociològic emergeix.