José Luis Balbín, key in Transition television, dies

The journalist and creator, director and moderator of the program 'La Clave', José Luis Balbín Meana (Pravia, 1940) died this June 22 at his home in Madrid at the age of 81.

Balbín marked a before and after on Spanish television with the debate program The Key.

Initially broadcast in RTVE between 1976 and 1985, later the format was rescued by Antenna 3 between 1990 and 1993, contributing to the process of political change in the Transition after a dictatorship of almost 40 years.

The debate, slow and profound, preceded in its time on RTVE the broadcast of a film that framed a gathering in which politicians from all over the parliamentary spectrum participated, dealing with such thorny issues as abortion, the reform of the Penal Code, the legalization of the PCE, homosexuality and Spain's entry into NATO.

Among the many recognitions throughout his career, in 2015 he received the National Television Award. For its part, the Television Academy the Council of the Academy of Television and Audiovisual Sciences and Arts last year he was awarded the Jesús Hermida Prize.

Balbín's mortal remains will be transferred, as expressed by his widow and also journalist, Julia Mesoneros, to Pravia, his hometown.