Alba Parejo spent years hiding.
She was born in Castelldefels, Barcelona, with a giant congenital melanocytic nevus, a rare, non-hereditary condition that covers her body in moles. According to sources, we’re talking about hundreds—more than a thousand.
From a very young age, she underwent more than 30 operations, and the mockery and criticism of her appearance took such a toll on her self-esteem that she sought psychological help. For years, she chose one-piece swimsuits and long pants so no one would see her skin.
Then she made a decision that changed everything: to stop covering up. In 2017, she used the hashtag #liberándonos to raise awareness of her nevus, and began wearing bikinis, shorts, and short sleeves without filters. Today, she is a model, influencer, and rare disease advocate, with a community of hundreds of thousands of followers on Instagram and TikTok and posts that have received more than a million views.
Her condition has no cure and increases the risk of skin cancer. What changed wasn’t her skin, but the way she chose to live in it.