In Oviedo is the Instituto de Educación Secundaria La Florida officially named after the writer on 24 September 2026 Xuan Bello . The president of the Principado de Asturias, Adrián Barbón, attended the ceremony in the La Florida district and announced that he would submit Bello’s posthumous nomination for the Medalla de Asturias . The institute’s renaming had previously been prepared through administrative procedures; it takes formal effect in the 2026/2027 school year.
Bello’s widow, journalist and Oviedo councillor Sonia Fidalgo, and their daughter Lena Belloalso took part in the ceremony. Representatives of the school community paid tribute to the author’s literary work. According to the school and regional authorities, the new name is intended to strengthen the link between education and cultural heritage in Asturias.
Xuan Bello, a defining voice in contemporary Asturian literature, died in 2025. His best-known works include Hestoria Universal de Paniceiros, written in the Asturian language. In recent months, several initiatives in Oviedo and the rest of the Principado de Asturias have been launched to celebrate his work.
Barbón said the planned nomination for the Medalla de Asturias reflected Bello’s importance to the region’s language and literature. The award is presented annually by the Principado de Asturias. The announcement is normally followed by assessments and decisions by the relevant bodies; the final award remains their decision. The president thus explicitly distinguished today’s symbolic act at the school from the separate procedure for granting the award.
The institute’s renaming had been supported in advance by the institution’s Consejo Escolar. According to the regional administration, the measure is part of a broader programme to make Asturias’s literary tradition more visible. Next year, there are also plans to study Bello’s work in greater depth as part of the Selmana de Les Lletres programme.
The matter remains local: it concerns the institute in the La Florida district of Oviedo. At the same time, it sends a signal beyond the city by underscoring the importance of the languages cultivated in Asturias and of regional literary policy.
Editor: Mira Cadena (Article created with AI assistance).