Xesús Balboa López

Xesús Balboa López is a Lecturer in the Department of Contemporary and American History at the University of Santiago de Compostela. He obtained his doctorate in 1990 with a thesis on Galician forest and agrarian history under Prof. Ramón Villares Paz. His research focuses on agrarian history, contemporary Galicia, communal property systems, and forest management.

Education: PhD in Contemporary History (1990), Universidade de Santiago de Compostela.

Research interests include:

• Legal and administrative frameworks of rural land ownership
• Historical conflicts over communal forests
• Post-war agrarian reforms in Galicia
• Socio-legal dimensions of rural development

Recent projects include consultancy work on wind farm impacts, studies of communal land conflicts, and leadership in the Barbanza Ecosocial Laboratory (2023) exploring rural ecological dynamics. He has contributed to major national and international research networks including the HISTAGRA group and the REVOLTA agroecology initiative.