New book honors the legacy of Isabel Roig, a key figure in Barcelona's grassroots activism

Laia Coronado's work explores the life of the PSUC politician who transformed Nou Barris.

Generic image of books in a library symbolizing the recovery of historical memory.
IA

Generic image of books in a library symbolizing the recovery of historical memory.

Historian Pau Vinyes and journalist Laia Coronado Nadal have launched in Barcelona a biography of Isabel Roig, a prominent neighborhood activist and politician during the city's democratic transition.

The book Isabel Roig i Fransitorra, cristiana, comunista i lluitadora veïnal, co-published by Llop Roig and the Barcelona City Council, traces the life of a woman who balanced her role in the Sant Andreu de Palomar residents' association with her PSUC membership. Roig served as Urban Planning Councilor in Nou Barris from 1979 to 1987.

"The book also aims to reflect that the role of women is unfortunately not sufficiently recognized. It is time to dignify historical memory from a female perspective."

Pau Vinyes · Historian and son of the protagonist
The biography highlights her involvement in the 1976 Motor Ibérica women's strike and her efforts to hide sensitive political documents during the 1981 attempted coup d'état. These archives have now been donated to the Roquetes-Nou Barris Historical Archive.