Pep Parés, the activist who makes Captain Lettuce's slogan a reality

BarcelonaPep Parés was a popular face of the first Televisió de Catalunya thanks to two iconic characters: the adventurer Oliana Molls (1985-1987) and our first ecological consciousness, Captain Lettuce (1994). At that time, he was also the face of a sport as little known until then as mushing, and he directed the Pirena sled dog race for 22 editions (1990-2012). Furthermore, Parés continued to work as an actor (the last professional play was "The Jewish Woman, by Bertold Brecht, in 2003-2004) and chaired Amnesty International in Catalonia (2007-2011). He also mobilized for the National Pact for the Referendum.

Since then, Parés has dedicated himself to being an activist applying a philosophy that Captain Lettuce himself would sign: "Think globally and act locally," he says. "I have wanted my commitments to be zero kilometer, basically in El Masnou," he affirms. At 76 years old, he maintains an intense activity linked to volunteering. He is a grassroots activist for the Red Cross, collaborating with a refugee center so that about seventy sub-Saharan people have a dignified life and work. He also participates in the Santa Clara Foundation, which helps about 150 elderly people who are alone with the most complicated procedures.

There is an activity that unites his two great passions, acting and volunteering, and which amuses him as much as it excites him, due to the audience's reaction. With a guitarist friend, they go to sing in retirement homes, with a repertoire ranging from Se va el caimán to El camí de la font. In addition, he acts as a grandfather to five grandchildren, three of whom have breakfast at his house every morning and already ask him complicated questions about the world. "I never had great fame as a super actor, my popularity was very domestic, at most they would give you a bottle of cava in a restaurant, and that is appreciated because it has allowed me to do very different things."