Honorary Member
Human Sciences: Psychologist and founder of the social project La Fageda
Date of admission: 18 December 2025
Admission address: “Del manicomio a la Real Academia: algunas reflexiones sobre las ideas de Platón” (From the asylum to the Royal Academy: some reflections on the ideas of Plato)
Response by: H.E. Dr. Jaume Llopis Casellas, PhD in Economics and Business Administration
He was trained in Psychology at the Autonomous University of Barcelona and began his professional career in various psychiatric institutions in Zaragoza, Martorell and Salt, where he worked with people with intellectual disabilities and/or severe mental disorders, and where he developed an approach centred on dignity, recognition and work as an instrument for personal development and growth.
In 1982 he founded the La Fageda cooperative in Olot as a response to the living conditions of former asylums. The project combines productive activities —farming, gardening, the production of dairy products and jams, and guided visits— with a comprehensive support model that includes employment, training, housing, leisure and psychosocial support. Its approach is based on the inviolable dignity of the person and upholds that “the meaning of work lies in work with meaning”.
The singular nature of La Fageda has attracted national and international interest and is studied at institutions such as IESE, ESADE and universities such as Harvard. The project receives thousands of visitors every year and is recognised as a successful case in social economy and people-centred management.
Throughout his career, Cristóbal Colón has received numerous institutional distinctions, including the Creu de Sant Jordi (2009), the Turn the World Outward Award (Arbinger Institute, 2022), the Medal of the City of Olot (2024), an honorary doctorate from the University of Girona (2024), and the CECOT Lifetime Achievement Award (2025). These distinctions recognise a body of work focused on generating real opportunities for people in situations of vulnerability and on promoting a business model at the service of the common good.
