Famous people who grew up or lived in Spain
21 notable people grew up or lived in Spain. Each listing explores the home and neighbourhood, and how the place shaped the person they became.
Alexia Putellas1994–2012
📍 Mollet del Vallès, Barcelona, Spain
Alexia Putellas Segura was born in February 1994 in Mollet del Vallès, a town of about fifty thousand people in the Vallès valley north of Barcelona, the elder daughter of Jaume Putellas…
Andrés Iniesta1984–1996
📍 Fuentealbilla, Albacete, Spain
Andrés Iniesta Luján was born in May 1984 in Fuentealbilla, a small farming village of about two thousand people on the high plains of Albacete, in Castilla-La Mancha. His father, José…
Antoni Gaudí1906–1925
📍 Casa Museu Gaudí, Park Güell, Carretera del Carmel 23A, 08024 Barcelona, Spain
I was born in Reus, near Tarragona, the son of a coppersmith, and as a child rheumatism often kept me from playing with other boys, so I spent long hours watching nature — plants, insects…
Carlos Alcaraz2003–2018
📍 El Palmar, Murcia, Spain
Carlos Alcaraz was born in Murcia, in south-eastern Spain, in May 2003 and grew up in El Palmar, a busy town on the southern edge of the city, among orange and lemon groves and dry hills…
Francisco Franco1892–1975
📍 El Ferrol, Galicia, Spain
I was born Francisco Paulino Hermenegildo Teódulo Franco Bahamonde on the 4th of December 1892 in El Ferrol, a naval garrison town in Galicia, the son of a naval paymaster. El Ferrol gave…
Francisco Goya1746–1828
📍 Calle de Zuloaga 3, 50142 Fuendetodos, Zaragoza, Spain
I was born Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes on the 30th of March 1746 in Fuendetodos, a small village in Aragon. I went to Zaragoza to study and then to Madrid, and by my late thirties I…
Ignatius of Loyola1491–1556
📍 Santuario de Loyola, Jauregi Kalea 15, 20730 Azpeitia, Gipuzkoa, Spain
I was born Íñigo López de Loyola around 1491 at Loyola Castle in the Basque Country, a vain and ambitious young nobleman fond of military adventure. A French cannonball shattered my leg at…
Iker Casillas1981–1999
📍 Móstoles, Madrid, Spain
Iker Casillas was born in May 1981 in Móstoles, a fast-growing working-class town of apartment blocks on the southern edge of Madrid. His parents, José Luis and María del Carmen, both came…
King Pedro I of Castile1364–1369
📍 Patio de Banderas, s/n, 41004 Seville, Spain
The old palace was a Moorish fortress — magnificent but not kingly enough for Castile's ambitions. I brought craftsmen from Granada itself, the finest Mudéjar masters, and told them to…
Lamine Yamal2007–2019
📍 Rocafonda, Mataró, Barcelona, Spain
Lamine Yamal Nasraoui Ebana was born in July 2007 in Esplugues de Llobregat, near Barcelona, and grew up in Rocafonda, a working-class, multicultural neighbourhood of apartment blocks on…
Maimonides1138–1204
📍 Calle de los Judíos 18, 14004 Córdoba, Andalusia, Spain
I was born Moses ben Maimon on the 30th of March 1138 in Córdoba, the capital of Muslim-ruled Andalusia — one of the most intellectually alive cities in the medieval world, where Muslim…
Muhammad I ibn al-Ahmar1237–1273
📍 Calle Real de la Alhambra, s/n, 18009 Granada, Spain
When I took Granada in 1237, I found a red hill above the city that commanded everything. I began with a fortress — the Alcazaba — but what I truly built was a refuge for a civilisation…
Pablo Picasso1881–1895
📍 Plaza de la Merced 15, 29012 Málaga, Andalusia, Spain
I was born Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno Crispín Crispiniano María Remedios de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz Picasso on the 25th of October 1881 in Málaga, a port city on…
Rafael Nadal1986–2005
📍 Manacor, Mallorca, Spain
Rafael Nadal was born in Manacor, the second city of Mallorca, in June 1986, into a close, sporty family that lived together in the same building in the town centre, grandparents, uncles…
Salvador Dalí1930–1982
📍 Port Lligat, 17488 Cadaqués, Catalonia, Spain
I was born Salvador Domingo Felipe Jacinto Dalí i Domènech on the 11th of May 1904 in Figueres, Catalonia, and spent the most important years of my life in the Costa Brava fishing village…
Sergio García1980–1999
📍 Borriol, Castellón, Spain
Sergio García was born in January 1980 in Borriol, a small hill town of whitewashed houses and orange groves just inland from Castellón de la Plana on Spain's Mediterranean coast. His…
Sergio Ramos1986–2005
📍 Camas, Seville, Spain
Sergio Ramos García was born in March 1986 in Camas, a small town on the west bank of the Guadalquivir, just across the river from Seville, in Andalusia. He was one of three children of…
Seve Ballesteros1957–1976
📍 Pedreña, Cantabria, Spain
I was born in April 1957 in Pedreña, a fishing and farming village on the Bay of Santander in Cantabria, in a stone farmhouse that my great-grandparents had built, where we slept in rooms…
Tamara Rojo1974–1996
📍 Madrid, Spain
Tamara Rojo was born in May 1974 in Montreal, where her Spanish parents were living at the time, and when she was four months old the family returned to Spain and settled in Madrid. Her…
Teresa of Ávila1515–1582
📍 Avila, Castile and Leon, Spain
I was born Teresa de Cepeda y Ahumada on the 28th of March 1515 in Ávila, a walled city on the Castilian plateau, the daughter of a converso merchant and a devout mother who died when I was…
Xavi Hernández1980–1991
📍 Terrassa, Barcelona, Spain
Xavier Hernández Creus, known as Xavi, was born in January 1980 in Terrassa, an industrial city of old textile mills about twenty kilometres north-west of Barcelona, in Catalonia. His…