Spain

Famous Spanish People: Spanish Artists, Scientists, Leaders, Musicians, Politicians and Athletes

It is said that a nation is what it is because of its people. It is the people who create legacies, make up the culture, and bring recognition to a nation. They are the ones who facilitate the inclusion of their homeland in the annals of history because of extraordinary achievement and amazing feats. Spain for one has a huge share of very famous people – musicians, painters, artists, politicians, sportsmen and many others who have contributed their talents and unique ideologies to the world, earning them their own special niches in history. These individuals will never be forgotten, not only by the natives of Spain, but by people of all nations in every corner of the globe.

:: List of Famous People from Spain ::

El Cid
Rodrigo Diaz de Vivar, also referred to as “El Cid Campeador” or “The Champion”, is Spain’s national hero. Diaz was born in 1044, in Vivar, near Burgos, Spain. He had served several rulers during his time, first under Sancho II, where Diaz contributed greatly to increase his territory, even fighting against King Ferdinand’s half brother, Ramiro I of Aragon. Sancho’s brother Alfonso became king of Castile and León when Sancho was assassinated and Diaz’ position was given to his enemy, Count Garcia Ordóñez. The new king and his court were jealous of El Cid and used El Cid’s unauthorized trip to Granada as an excuse. He went to Zaragoza and served under the Moorish leaders Yusuf Al-Mu’tamin ibn Hud, then his successor, Al-Musta’in II and where he used his considerable military skills to command a very large army in many conquests, including the defeat of the combined troops of Aragon, Castile and Leon. Because of El Cid’s military prowess, King Alfonso IV, fearing defeat recalled El Cid to his court in 1087. There were very little information about what transpired but El Cid begun to serve King Alfonso IV and conquered Valencia. El Cid ruled over Valencia officially under King Alfonso IV but he actually remained independent and he and his wife Jimena lived in Valencia until the Almoravids from Morocco attacked the city. El Cid was killed in battle and his wife brought his body back to Burgos and is now interred at the cathedral in Burgos.

Francisco Franco Bahamonde
Francisco Franco Bahamonde was born in El Ferrol, Galicia, Spain in the 4th of December 1892. During his lifetime, he was great leader, a general, a dictator, and commander-in-chief. Franco played a great part during the Spanish Civil War, becoming Spain’s Head of State in 1939. He was an avid sportsman and joined Spain’s Naval Preparatory Academy at age 12. Although graduates here were expected to serve the Spanish Navy, his naval career was cut short as the United States sunk a lot of the Spanish Navy in 1898 during the Spanish-American War. He entered the Spanish Military Academy in 1907 and became lieutenant after three years. He then participated in the battle against Berber tribes and was victorious in the Battle of El Biutz in 1916 that put an end to attacks of the Berbers on Spanish outposts. He became commander of the Spanish Foreign Legion in 1923, and at 33 years of age, was the youngest brigadier general of the army in 1926. In 1927, he led Spain’s National Military Academy. Bahamonde was considered to be a ruthless authoritarian who had ordered more than 2,000 miners suspected as Marxists be executed. He joined fellow officers who planned on overthrowing the Spanish government. Bahamonde was appointed commander of nationalist forces on the 17th of July 1936, carrying the title, “Generalisimo.” Franco emerged victorious in the capture of Madrid’s capital in March of 1929 that marked the end of the Spanish Civil War. He was Spain’s supreme leader up until his death at the age of 82, in November of 1975.

King Ferdinand
King Ferdinand II of Aragon was born in Sos del Rey Católico, Aragon on March 10, 1452. He was best remembered as the famous King of Spain who funded the famed explorer and navigator, Christopher Columbus. King Ferdinand made many contributions to Spanish history. He was instrumental in the establishment of the royal authority all over Spain; expelled the Moors from Granada, defeated France and established Spain’s supremacy in Italy and conquered Navarre. He was always after political power and dominion and liked to boast of his many accomplishments. His marriage to Isabella was due to his aspiration of laying claim to the throne. Although he searched for political advantage, albeit selfishly at his wife, Isabella’s expense, he knew of her special abilities as well as her high character. After Isabella’s death, he married Germaine of Foix with the hope of having an heir to punish his son-in-law from Habsburg. This passion led him to perform acts that almost destroyed the national unification he had been aiming for. His not-so admirable character though did not deter him from pursuing his commitment to develop Spain into a great nation. He also arranged for the Guadalupe Convention that put an end to fierce agrarian clashes in Catalonia. Ferdinand II died on January 23, 1516 in Madrigalejo, Estremadura of unknown causes.

Queen Isabella I
Isabella I was born on April 22, 1451 and ruled Castile as well as Aragon together with Ferdinand II, her husband. Her brother was Henry the IV who became the king over Castile after the death of his father, John II in 1454. Isabella’s brother, Alfonso was expected to be heir to the throne. Both Isabella and Alfonso lived with their mother, Isabella from Portugal but they were moved to the court of Henry IV so that they would not be used by opposing nobles. Although the opposition pushed for Alfonso against Henry, they were defeated. Ultimately, Alfonso died from poisoning. Isabella was then offered by the nobles to take the crown, which she refused. Henry compromised, accepting Isabella as heiress. He withdrew his offer after Isabella was wedded to Ferdinand from Aragon. Henry named his daughter Juana as heiress after his death, but Isabella became Queen of Castile in 1479 and her husband ruled Aragon. Both of them ruled with the same power in both kingdoms and unified Spain in the process. They also instituted the Spanish Inquisition in 1480, doing a religious cleansing or purification of faith under the name of “the Catholic monarchs.” She also supported the voyage of Columbus, a move that paid off a great deal as the lands of the New World that Columbus discovered were bestowed on Castile. She was kind to Native Americans who were living in the lands of the New World, freeing and allowing those that were brought to Spain and to return to their own lands. She was a patroness of artists and scholars, putting up educational facilities as well as acquiring a vast collection of works of art. She died in November 26, 1504, leaving an heir, “Mad Joan,” her mentally-unstable daughter.

Christopher Columbus
Columbus, world-renowned navigator and explorer was born in Italy, but lived both in Portugal and Spain. Although short in education because of a lack of money, Columbus pursued his career as a navigator and an explorer, using a book written by the medieval scientist Regiomontanus, the “Epherimedes.” This would serve as a method for both Columbus and Amerigo Vespucci to be able to take measurements of longitudes during explorations they did in the New World. Christopher Columbus would travel the seas like a privateer, and attacked Moorish ships. In 1482, he was unable to get the support of the King of Portugal to find a fast trade course to the Indies. He moved to Cadiz, Spain where he opened a shop that supplied charts and maps. His petitions to the Spanish court for support of his plans were refused in 1487, and were also denied by both King Henry the VII of England and Kind Charles the VIII of France. Appeals to King Ferdinand of Spain in 1491 were denied again. In 1491, Father Perez, a Spanish priest, interceded for Columbus, asking Queen Isabella to provide him with the funds he needed to convert atheistic cultures to Christianity. Finally, King Ferdinand and the Queen of Spain provided Columbus with the money and the ships he needed in 1492. Columbus then started his voyage to the Indies in 1492. He was able to establish the very first Spanish colony in the New World. His travels took him to Haiti, where he searched for gold and established a Spanish settlement there, Jamaica, Cape Verde Islands, South and Central America. He died on May 20, 1506. He is given honor because of his many discoveries, all over the world, especially in the Americas where Columbus Day is celebrated, as well as having his name used in places, like the District of Columbia.

Pablo Ruiz Picasso
Pablo Picasso was born in Malaga, Spain on October 25, 1881. Known worldwide as such, his full name was Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso. Picasso was exposed to the world of the arts at an early age, with his formal training coming from his father who was also a painter. In the 1900s, he moved to Paris, France where he lived in squalor and poverty and had to burn some of his paintings just to stay warm during winter. In 1901, Picasso founded the magazine “Arte Joven,” wherein his illustrations were shown in its first edition. Towards the latter part of his life, he was able to acquire his well-deserved fame, as both his personal as well as professional life were the subject of headlines in all of the leading daily newspapers. Although he was not affected as much during the time when the Nazis had conducted attacks, he had to continue doing his work secretly as they were not really appreciated by the Nazis. Picasso was politically indifferent, remaining on the neutral side in World War II, and during the Spanish Civil War. Clearly, he was anti-violence and made it known to everyone. In 1944, he attended the International Peace Conference held in Poland.

Pablo Picasso started the concept of Cubism for art and sculpturing, based on the idea that geometric shapes are able to take the place of the natural forms of objects. While he started painting using a realistic style, most of his famous works are influenced by the different periods in his artistic career. The Les Demoiselles d’Avignon which he painted in 1907 was done when most of Picasso’s works were under the African influence and Guernica done in 1937, which showed the after effects of the bombing of Guernica by the Germans during the civil war in Spain.

Francisco Goya
Romantic painter and print maker Francisco Goya was born on March 30, 1746. He was given the full name of Francisco José de Goya y Lucientes but became more popularly known as Francisco Goya. He was the last artist belonging to the list of Old Masters, including Jan van Eyck, Leonardo da Vinci, Albecht Dürer, Michaelangelo, Raphael and Boticelli. His bold style of handling paint had become the model for the works of artists like Picasso, a fellow Spanish, Francis Bacon and Édouard Manet.

Born in Fuendetodos in Aragon, Goya, the son of a gilder, lived in a house that bore the family crest of his mother. He apprenticed at Spanish painter José Luzán when he was 14 years old. His clashes with his master, Anton Raphael Mengs and his unsatisfactory examination results caused him to be denied entrance into the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in 1763 and 1766. He relocated to Rome in 1771 and was able to gain recognition before returning to Zaragoza and painted some of the cupolas of the Basilica of the Pillar and some Sobradiel Palace frescoes. His studies under neoclassic Spanish painter Francisco Bayeu y Subias developed the delicate tonalities in his use of color that made Goya very famous. He became a favorite court painter of royalty, despite creating unflattering portraits as compared to the beautiful details he put on patterns and fabrics. Notable works of Goya outside of his court paintings include The Nude Maja that was done circa 1800 and The Clothed Maja, done three years later in 1803. Goya’s paintings reflected his evolution. It was believed that the lead used in the paints caused his deafness and his temper darkened toward the latter years of his life, shown in the more frightening paintings, some of which were painted directly on the interior walls of his home where he lived as a recluse. These works of art were part of his Black paintings that included individual canvases like Colossus and Saturn Devouring His Son. Goya died on April 16, 1828.

Salvador Dali
More popularly known as Salvador Dali, his full name was Salvador Domènec Felip Jacint Dalí i Domènech and he held the title of Marquis de Púbol. Dali was born in Figueras, Catalonia on the 11th of May, 1904. He had a happy childhood together with his sister in the agricultural village of Figueras, located on the Pyrenees. He started sketching and drawing at a very young age and attended art school with his parents’ full support. At the age of 16, Dali lost his mother to cancer and at 18 years of age, he entered San Fernando’s Royal Academy of Fine Arts, displaying superior skills over most of the faculty members of the academy. While there, his art was influenced by Cubism and Dada movements, which can be seen in a lot of his earlier works. Prior to graduating, he dropped out of the Academy, reasoning that there was no one among the faculty members who were qualified to give critiques on his work. He then took residence in Paris, where he was able to build up his reputation of being an outstanding, if not a bit eccentric artist, a reputation that earned him entry into Europe’s more esteemed art circles. He had also earned the respect of great painters such as Pablo Picasso. Dali spent most of his days utilizing the Cubism as well as the Surrealism movements for a lot of his most famous works of art including “The Persistence of Memory,” one, if not the most recognized piece of work that he had done. He married Helena Devulina, or more popularly known as Gala in 1934. They lived in various places such a New York, Paris, and Spain, where Dali reaped great success as an artist, sculptor, filmmaker, photographer, architect, and writer. He died of heart failure on the 23rd of January 1989.

Joan Miró
Joan Miró i Ferra was born on April 20, 1893 in Barcelona, Spain to a family of goldsmiths and watchmakers. He studied art in Barcelona’s La Escuela de la Lonja in 1907. In 1912, he continued private art studies in Academia Gali. Although his family had wished that Miró have a career as a businessman, he gave up studies on accounting to pursue his love for the arts. His earlier works had strong influences of Cezanne, and he did a lot of experimentations with Cubism as well as Fauvism. In the 1930s, he had already developed a style uniquely his own, as he continued to experiment with various mediums and materials. During the Spanish Civil War, he created “Still Life with Old Shoe,” one of the most notable paintings of that time, in Paris. He returned to Spain in 1940 where he began his 23 Gouaches Constellations series. In 1947, Miró visited the US and had several one-man shows. He was also able to achieve his dream of monumental art through murals. Because of his huge success in the US, he was able to acquire his dream of a villa/studio at the Palma de Mallorca. He was awarded the “Gold Medal of Fine Arts” presented to him by King Juan Carlos of Spain. Joan Miró died on December 25, 1983 from heart and respiratory problems. In 1992, his villa in Palma Mallorca was opened to the public, this time as the Miró Museum.

Antonio Machado
Antonio Machado was one of Spain’s most popular poets. He was born in 1875 in Campos de Castilla, Seville, although his family transferred to Madrid when Machado was only eight. Lack of finances while in school made him look for a job and went to France, meeting fellow writers and became interested in poetry. He studied literature and French and later became a French instructor in Soria where he eventually met his future wife, Leonor. Unfortunately her life was cut short by tuberculosis. Machado received orders to return to Baeza in Andalucia while he was still grieving. He taught there for seven years, still grieving until he and his mother rented a place in Baeza and he slowly began to write again. Some of his most joyful works were written while he was married, including “Campos de Castilla,” which was one of the most renowned written pieces of that period. Other literary works include “Solitudes, Galleries and other poems.” Just like Lorca, Machado was a victim of the Spanish Civil war. He was a supporter of the Republic but had to cross to the Pyrenees together with his mother and uncle for safety in February of 1939. During this trip, he fell ill and died shortly after in Collioure, France.

Federico Garcia Lorca
Federico Garcia Lorca may probably be the most significant poet and playwright of Spain in the twentieth century. He was born on the 5th of January 1898 in Fuente Vaqueros, a short distance away from Granada. The family was well-to-do as his father owned a big farm and a mansion in the city. His mother was an exceptional pianist whom he idolized. He took up law in Sacred Heart University together with his regular coursework. He came up with his first book in 1919, “Impresiones y Viajes,” inspired by his trip to Castile in 1917. He traveled to Madrid in 1919 where he stayed for fifteen years, devoting all of his time to perfecting his art. He gave theatrical performances and read his written poems, as well as collected folk songs. He wrote “Maleficio de la Mariposa” in 1920, a controversial play that resulted in a scandal during the time it was produced. Other works of art were “Libro de Poemas,” a collection of poems inspired by Spanish folklore, and “Romancero Gitano,” that brought him fame worldwide. He traveled to New York enjoying Harlem and African-American music in 1929. After a year, he went back to Spain. This was after the Spanish Republic was proclaimed. He was a participant of the Secondary Ordinary Congress that came up with the “Barraca,” a venue for producing important plays. “La Barraca” was the result, a traveling theater group that toured the towns and villages of Spain, performing different Spanish Classics. Three of his plays were produced by this company including “Bodas de Sangre,” “Yerma,” and “Casa de Bernarda Alba.” He was arrested in 1936 in his country home at Callejones de Garcia by Franquist militia. After a few days in jail, Garcia Lorca was brought to a cemetery where he was riddled with bullets by the soldiers. No one has ever found where his body was put to rest.

Pablo Casals
Born Pau Carlos Salvador Defillo on December 29, 1876, Pablo Casals was a great cellist as well as a conductor. His father was an organist in the parish and the choirmaster of Vendrell. He provided Casals with early lessons on the piano, organ, and the violin. At the age of 11, Casals decided to study the cello after hearing the instrument played by traveling musicians. He enrolled at Barcelona’s Escuela Municipal de Musica in 1888, studying cello under the tutelage of Jose Garcia. At 14, he had his first solo recital in Barcelona and graduated in 1893 with special honors. Casals was able to perform for the Queen Regent of Madrid and had other concerts within the palace. He was appointed as faculty member of Barcelona’s Escuela Municipal de Musica in 1896 and appeared as a soloist in 1897 for the Madrid Symphony Orchestra. An award from the Queen for the Order of Carlos III assured his career as a cello virtuoso. Among his performances in 1899 were those that were held at the Crystal Palace of London and at Queen Victoria’s summer residence at the Isle of Wight. He was a performer in Lamoureux, Paris and in Holland together with Harold Bauer. Casals’ first US tour was in 1901. In 1904, he had an invitation to perform for President Theodore Roosevelt. As a staunch supporter of the Spanish republican government, Casals promised that he would not return to Spain after they were defeated, until democracy would be restored in the country. In November of 1961, he performed for President John F. Kennedy because of his great admiration for the man. He was also a great composer of unforgettable music for cello ensembles, one of which was the “La Sardana.” Among his last compositions was “Himno a las Naciones Unidas,” which he conducted during a special concert of the United Nations in October of 1971. After his death, Casals was posthumously given honors by King Juan Carlos I of Spain with a commemorative stamp for his 100th birthday in 1976.

Manuel de Falla y Matheu
Manuel de Falla, as he was popularly known, was given the full name of Manuel María de los Dolores Falla y Matheu when he was born on November 23, 1876 in Cadiz, Spain. Falla was a classical music composer and his mother was his first music teacher. At age nine he was provided with his first professor in piano. During the latter part of the 1890s, he took up music in Madrid, studying piano under José Tragó and composition under Felipe Pedrell. Falla was awarded first prize at a piano competition held in his school in 1899. Pedrell’s influence had Falla’s interest aroused in the native music of Andalusia, specifically the Andalusian flamenco that became highly notable in a lot of his works. He did zarzuelas as well, but his most significant creation was “La Vida Breve,” an opera of one act that was written in 1905 and made its premiere in 1913. In 1907, he went to Paris and was able to meet several composers who influenced his work, such as Claude Debussy and Maurice Ravel. When he wet back to Madrid in 1914, he began composing a number of his more popular works including “Noches en los jardines de España,” “El Amor Brujo,” and “El Corregidor y la molinera,” both ballets. When he resided in Granada in 1921 up to 1939, he put together “Concurso de Cante Jondo, and created “El retablo de maese Pedro,” a puppet opera. He then started to work on a full-scale orchestral cantata inspired by L’Atlàntida, a Catalan text written by Jacint Verdaguer. He continued working on the cantata even after he had moved to Argentina after the victory of Franco in 1939. He died in Cordoba, leaving his orchestration incomplete during the time of his death. Ernesto Halffter posthumously completed it soon after. His remains are now entombed at the Cathedral of Cadiz.

Joaquin Turina
Born in Seville, Spain in 1882, Joaquin Turina grew up in an artistic atmosphere that greatly influenced his career as a musician. He learned to play an accordion after a short time when he was four years old to the amazement of his family. He begun formal studies of theory, harmony, and counterpoint, at age 12 and started almost immediately to compose music. On March 14, 1897, he made his musical debut, performing Thalberg’s “Fantasy,” that started his career as a total performer. He traveled to Madrid in 1902, resided there, and got himself involved in the music scene of the place. He went to Paris in 1905 where he took piano lessons with Moszkowsky. He also studied theory under the tutelage of Vicent d’Indy at Schola Cantorum. He was good friends with Falla and Albeniz in Paris and got encouragement from Albeniz to derive inspiration from Spanish and Andalusian music. In 1914, he went back to Madrid together with Manuel de Falla, devoting his life to teaching, composing, and performing. He got a position as professor in the Royal Conservatory of Madrid, teaching composition in 1931. On 1943, Turina had the top musical post working at the Ministry of National Education. He wrote the treaty, “Las nueve musas” in 1945 where he was able to demonstrate several techniques in composition. Turina was able to create music of almost all genres, including large-scale compositions such as the operas “Margot” and “Jardin de Oriente,” among so many others. He was a composer of songs as well as guitar pieces like “Hommenage a Tarrega” and “Sevillana.” He died on January 14, 1949 in Madrid.

Jose Carreras
The famous opera singer, Jose Maria Carreras-Coll was born in Barcelona on December 5, 1946. As a young boy, he already showed his inclination for music especially after watching the great Mario Lanza in “The Great Caruso.” He had his first performance at 8 years old on Spanish National radio. During this time, he was taking up piano as well as solfeggio lessons. He was a regular opera goer along with his brother because of the season subscription his parents had in the Liceo Opera. At age 17 he took voice lessons with Jaime Francisco Puig at Barcelona’s Conservatorio Superior de Musica del Liceo. He made his debut performance at 18 where he played Flavio in Vincenzo Bellini’s “Norma” with Montserrat Caballe playing the title role as his partner. Both Carreras and Caballe performed in several operas together. In 1971, he won in the International Verdi Lyrical Song competition and performed for the first time in London with Caballe. He then made several note-worthy recordings including Verdi’s “Requiem” with Herbert von Karajan as conductor. At 28 years of age, he had already performed as the lead tenor of 24 operas. In 1987 he collapsed during a recording performance in Paris with Kiri Te Kanawa for the opera “Manon Lescaut” by Puccini. Carreras was diagnosed with leukemia. He went through a series of treatments that lasted a year. In 1988, he started singing again starting with an open air performance in Barcelona for 150,000 people. In 1990, Carreras joined the Three Tenors for the opening of the World Cup in Rome. Soon after, the Three Tenors had a series of successful concerts and recordings. Today, Carreras has recovered from his leukemia, maintaining his position as one of the greatest opera singers of the world, and continues to give outstanding performances for millions of opera aficionados worldwide.

Placido Domingo
Placido Domingo is both a popular tenor and gifted conductor who was born on January 21, 1941 in Madrid to a family of zarzuela singers. His family settled in Mexico and he toured with them since age seven. He took piano lessons under Manuel Barjas while in Mexico and studied voice under Carlo Morelli from 1955 to 1957, debuting in 1959 as Borsa in “Rigoletto.” In 1961, he performed as Alfredo in the opera “La Traviatta” ans as Arturo in “Lucia di Lamermoor” for his US debut. Domingo became a member of the “Hebrew National Opera” from 1962 to 1964 in Tel Aviv. Among his notable performances were Pinkerton in “Madama Butterfly,” and Turiddu in “Cavalleria Rusticana.” He was a regular performer of the Vienna State Opera, the La Scala in Milan, and the Covent Garden of London. As a conductor, he made his debut in the New York City opera with “La Traviata,” in October of 1973 and “La Boheme” in October of 1984. He performed together with Jose Carreras and Luciano Pavarroti as one of the most beloved Three Tenors, doing a series of concerts that wowed audiences all over the world. Domingo’s popularity has soared with his wonderful portrayals of challenging roles in the opera including Cavaradossi, Radames, Otello, Don Carlo, and Des Grieux, to name a few. He also published his autobiography, “Placido Domingo: My First Forty years,” on 1983 in New York.

Montserrat Caballe
Montserrat Caballe was a popular operatic soprano who was born on April 12, 1933 in Barcelona. She married tenor Bernabe Mutti. In spite of the fact that she had portrayed a huge variety of roles, she was more renowned as an advocate of “bel canto” repertoire, particularly those of Verdi, Bellini, Rossini, and Donizetti. She had performed under the baton of world class conductors including Bernstein, Levine, Mehta, Solti, and Von Karajan. Monserrat had also played roles and performed opposite highly respected musicians like Placido Domingo, Jose Carreras, Luciano Pavarotti, Alfredo Kraus, and Marilyn Horne. She debuted in 1962 at the El Liceu Opera House. Cabelle took the place of Marilyn Horne when the latter fell ill in 1965 and performed in “Lucrezia Borgia” by Donizetti at the Carnegie Hall in New York. Her performances of “Norma” by Bellini have been acclaimed by critics as simply perfect. Caballe had also performed alongside more modern artists such as the late Freddy Mercury of the group “Queen” and the popular composer, Vangelis.

Diego Velásquez
A leading artist of King Philip IV during the 1600s, Diego Velásquez had the amazing technique and self assurance that most art critics considered unsurpassed in the world of portrait artists. He was born in Seville, Spain on June 1599. Velásquez acquired training from Pacheco and later married his master’s daughter, Juana in 1618. He first produced tavern pieces or “bodegones,” as well as meticulous works on the life of peasants. He painted the first portrait of Philip IV in 1623 as replacement for Rogelio de Villandrando, Philip IV’s portrait painter who had passed away. Philip IV was impressed with Velásquez for finishing the portrait in one day, and started his friendship with Philip IV, which will last for 36 years. He was persuaded to move his family to Madrid with several incentives and an assurance that he will be the only portrait painter of Philip IV who would later become king. Peter Paul Rubens, also a painter came to Madrid in 1628 on a diplomatic mission that lasted for 9 months and during his stay Velasquez was his official guide and he inspired Velasquez to visit Italy. While in Italy he was visited by King Philip numerous times. This resulted in about 40 portraits that he did of King Philip, including those of his family, as well as Isabella of Bourbon and all of her children. He did several painting of dwarfs and court buffoons including “El Primo,” “El Bobo de Coria,” “Pablillos,” and “El Niño de Vallecas.” Other historical works done by Velasquez were “Las Lanzas” in 1647 and “Christ on the Cross” in 1638. In 1649, he returned to Italy to make several purchases for Spain’s art academy that King Philip always wanted and did a portrait of Pope Innocent X. In 1651, he came back to Spain and did a painting of King Philip’s 2nd wife, Marianna of Austria, and “Las Meninas.” The only surviving nude painting done by Velasquez is “La Venus del Espejo” that portrays Venus reclining on a bed looking at her face in a mirror held by her son, Cupid.

Ignacio Zuloaga
The Spanish artist, Ignacio Zuloaga was born on July 26, 1870 at Eibar, on the Basque region of Spain. He was the son of Placido Zuloaga, a metal worker and a “damascener,” and was also the grandson of Madrid’s royal armory director. He was sent to Rome to study architecture but became more interested in painting and had his first canvas within months after arriving in Rome and had it exhibited at Paris Salon in 1890. He decided to stay in Paris for five years, getting inspired by Paul Gauguin and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. But his personal style was fully developed after he returned to Spain, following the tradition set by Spanish painters like El Greco, Diego Velasquez, Francisco Goya, and Francisco de Zurbaran.

Spain itself did not acknowledge Zuloaga for a period of time, as his strong and rugged style contradicted the art of the more popular modern artists of Spain, like Madrazo, Fortuny, and Benlliure. Zuloaga was first given special honor by Paris and Brussels by reformers, as rejuvenator of Spain’s national art. Today, Zuloaga is represented in just about every grand continental gallery. He has two canvases in Luxembourg, one in the Museum of Brussels, and another in Vienna Gallery. These works include “Avant la Corrida” and “The Poet, Don Miguel.” He has a fascinating picture of a woman at the Pau Museum. In the Gallery of Venice is the “Madame Louise,” and “The Toppers” at the Gallery of Berlin. The works of Zuloaga are best known for their depictions of the more traditional characters of Spain, such as gypsies, peasants, and bullfighters.

Francisco de Zurbarán
Francisco de Zurbarán was born on 1598 in Fuente de Cantos, a small town in Western Spain. He already showed an inclination toward the arts at an early age and apprenticed with Pedro Diaz de Villanueva in 1614 before going to Seville to study under Juan de las Roelas. He developed his own realistic technique using chiaroscuro. After his second marriage De Zurbaran started on his career as an artist by accepting commissions for huge paintings meant for the “Retablo” of San Pedro found in the cathedral of Seville, as well as the Carthusians of Santa Maria de las Cuevas. On January of 1626, he was contracted by the Dominican monastery, San Pablo el Real, to create 21 paintings in a span of 8 months, which established his reputation as a great painter and received commissions for monasteries and churches, and was soon financially secure. After the death of his second wife in May of 1639, the tragedy affected him deeply, so much so that his artwork suffered significantly in spite of the increase in quantity of projects, through the help of his assistants and his finances dwindled. His reputation suffered when Murillo created the design of the Franciscan Church interior. In 1662, he created what is considered his last painting, “The Virgin and the Child with St. John.” Francisco de Zurbarán died in Madrid on August 27, 1664.

Santiago Calatrava
The famous Spanish architect and engineer, Santiago Calatrava was born on July 28, 1951 in Valencia. He currently ranks among the top modern architects worldwide, although he has only been practicing his profession for about 17 years to date. It took only 10 years for him to create a name for himself in the field of architecture, creating masterpieces that can be the yardstick for future architects and engineers. He started taking art classes before shifting to architecture and post graduate studies at the Escuela Tecnica Superior de Arquitectura de Valencia. Calatrava then enrolled in Zurich’s Swiss Federal Institute of Technology to take up civil engineering, continuing on to earn his doctorate degree. He named his thesis “Concerning the Foldability of Space Frames.”

Calatrava started working professionally in 1981 in Zurich, where he opened his own office for architecture and engineering. Most of his initial projects were focused on train stations and bridges, such as the Trinity Bridge, located in Salford, UK. In 1983, he finished his first realized project, the Jakem Factory in Switzerland. The first building he designed in the US was the Quadracci Pavilion of the Milwaukee Art Museum. He also came up with what is considered as one of the strangest buildings he has ever designed, the HSB Turning Torso office and residential tower, the tallest building in Scandinavia found in Malmö, Sweden. It was based on his own sculpture called the Twisting Torso. Calatrava is a recipient of countless awards that include the 1992 Gold Medal of the Institute of Structural Engineers as well as the Auguste Perret UIA Prize in 1987. At present, he is busy with the World Trade Center Transportation Hub in New York.

Antonio Gaudi
Antonio Gaudi was a Spanish architect par excellence who is recognized internationally. He was born in Catalonia in 1852 from a family of metal workers. He studied with the Escolapius Fathers, whose beliefs inspired his best work, The Sagrada Familia. He eventually studied architecture at Barcelona’s Provincial School of Architecture in 1870. Although he was not able to get recognition on Trial Drawings as well as Projects, he was given the title of Architect in 1878 by the director of the school, a title that he shared with only 3 other students. Gaudi found his inspiration from various sources such as gothic art, books of medieval times, Oriental structures, and nature, of which he had been very interested in as a child. Soon after his graduation, he established residency in Barcelona, where he had his first project, the Cooperativa Mataronese, a factory housing that was meant to improve on the quality of living of factory workers. In 1878, he participated in the World Fair of Paris where met Eusebi Guell, who was to become his very good friend and loyal patron. Gaudi did many projects in the years that followed, including a house for Manuel Vicens, a very wealthy ceramic maker, and a villa called “El Capricho,” for the Marquee of Comillas’ brother-in-law. He started to design a palace that was for a good friend, Palau Guell. His most recognized work however was a cathedral in Barcelona, the La Sagrada Familia, a project that took 42 years to finished and the last he will do. Gaudi died in 1926 at the age of 74.

Miguel de Cervantes
Miguel de Cervantes was a novelist, a poet, and a playwright, is recognized as one of Spain’s greatest writers. He is best-known by the world for his classic satire masterpiece, “Don Quijote.” Born under the name, Alcalá de Henares on September 29, 1547 in Madrid, Miguel de Cervantes lived a life of both hardship and adventure. Though born into an aristocratic family, they were quite poor and most of his childhood was spent moving to different towns as his doctor father struggled to find work. At 20 years of age, he enlisted as a soldier, and at 24, was with the Spanish Armada fighting at the “Battle of Lapanto.” At 28 years old, he was taken by pirates from North Africa and enslaved for a period of five years. Finally his family raised enough money to get him back. Upon his return, he earned money writing and doing several temporary jobs. His works included poetry, pastoral novel, and a number of plays. At a certain point in his life, Cervantes was incarcerated for fraud. It may have been a blessing in disguise as this was also the time that the ideas for “Don Quijote,” his masterpiece, were hatched. Cervantes was 58 when Don Quijote’s first volume was published, and it was a huge success. It has been described by scholars as one among the first novels of the world. Miguel de Cervantes was 68 years old when he died on April 23, 1616. His death and that of William Shakespeare’s were on the same date.

Pedro Calderon de la Barca
Pedro Calderon Barca, or Calderon as he is simply referred to, ranks only second to Lope de Vega among the most popular Spanish dramatists. At the young age of 13, he was inclined to writing plays, creating one among the very many he would be doing in the future. Calderon was commissioned to write several plays by King Philip IV to be performed at Buen Retiro’s Royal Theatre. He was dubbed “Knight of the Order of Santiago” by the king in 1637. He also participated in a campaign protesting the uprising in Catalan. After retiring from army service due to ill health, Calderon was given military pension. His earlier plays were secular in nature. When his mistress died in 1648 however, he became religious, took orders, and later entered the priesthood. His dramas during this period naturally turned towards more religious themes. He was in fact cited by many commentators as best when writing “autos,” which were religious plays closely resembling the plays on English mysteries during the Middle Ages. Along with Calderon, Spanish drama’s Golden Age ended. The ideas behind his writing were not as universal as those of Shakespeare. Rather, they were deeply local. The motives of his plots were limited to loyalty to the king, fidelity to the church, and assertion of personal honor by revenge. He wrote continuously until his death, producing quality work in spite of his frail health. One of his most loved dramatic works to date is “Life is a Dream,” a secular play.

Juan Ponce de Leon
Juan Ponce de Leon was Spain’s first explorer to reach Florida. It was said that he was born in 1460 at San Tevas de Campos. He set sail with Christopher Columbus on his second voyage in 1493. Ponce de Leon’s family lived in Hispaniola, an island of the Caribbean, where he was military commander, and then appointed as deputy governor. In 1506, he discovered an island nearby named Borinquen where he found large gold deposits. He renamed the island Puerto Rico and set sail again but was recalled and ordered by the King of Spain to colonize the island. He governed the island for two years until replaced by the son of Christopher Columbus. He began exploring again and headed north through the Bahamas and eventually reached Florida. He was looking for new lands to conquer as well as search for the legendary fountain of youth, which he never found. In March 1513, he landed on the east coast of Florida during Easter and with the land verdant and in full bloom he named it “La Florida” (Place of Flowers) and claimed it for Spain. While exploring the coast of coast he encountered rough currents in one area and called it Cape Canaveral, meaning Cape of Currents. He came upon an island teeming with giant sea turtles, torgugas in Spanish. Because the island did not have fresh water, he named it Dry Tortugas. In 1521, he went back to Florida to set up a colony. His ships landed on gulf beaches amid Estero Bay and Charlotte Harbor. He planned on building a farming colony taking more than 200 settlers, tools, horses, and seeds with him. Going inland to get fresh water, they were ambushed by the Calusa Indians, and he was shot by an arrow on his thigh. The settlement was abandoned and Ponce de Leon together with the settlers sailed to Cuba. Because of his wound, he died in Cuba at 61 years of age. Ponce de Leon is always remembered as Spain’s brave conquistador, the first explorer of many areas in Florida, and the man who sought the fountain of youth.

Hernán Cortés de Monroy y Pizarro
Cortés, the famous Spanish conquistador, was born in 1485 in Medellin, a small town in the southwestern part of Spain. He was a farmer and soldier and was with Diego Velasquez during the quest to conquer Cuba in 1511. With that accomplished, Cortés was placed by Velasquez, who became governor, as mayor-judge. After a time Cortés developed enmity with Velasquez and his expedition to establish a colony in Mexico was recalled by the governor, which Cortés ignored. Cortés and his men were met with resistance from the Indians when they landed near Veracruz in 1519. He was able to capture an Aztec princess, La Malinche who can speak Maya and Nahuatl (Aztec) language and became his interpreter and advisor. By creating alliances with the natives, he was able to built a large army and defeat any resistance, including the advances of the jealous Velasquez, communicating directly with King Henry IV. He even burned all his ships to prevent his men from retreating. He was met by Montezuma II, the Aztec emperor with graciousness and lavished with golden gifts, just so the emperor can find any weakness that can be used against Cortés later. He was eventually victorious against resistance and Cortés caused the downfall of the Aztec Empire. He claimed most of the land for Spain and given the title of Marqués del Valle de Oaxaca, a lower title than what he expected and left him embittered. In the seven years that followed, Cortés worked on establishing harmony among the Mexican Indians and developing farmlands and mines. He returned home in 1528, receiving great honor from Charles V. From 1534-1535, he did exploration in Lower California. He died on December 2, 1547 near Seville.

Vasco Nuñez de Balboa
Balboa was born in Jerez de los Caballeros, Spain. Along with Rodrigo de Bastidas, he traveled the New World in 1501. Both Balboa and Bastidas traded their European merchandise for large amounts of gold and pearls. During one of the voyages their ship sprung a leak and they had to abandon it and their merchandize seized by the governor of Hispaniola. He was able to escape to the Isthmus of Panama an proceeded to Coiba where he was able to establish a coalition between the Spaniards and Comegre, an influential chief to help them increase their territory. In return the local chief wanted help in overcoming tribal enemies. While fighting through some of the densest rain forests they have seen, Balboa was able to scale a mountain peak and got a view of what is now known as the eastern shore of the Pacific Ocean. He was joined by other Spaniards, along with Francisco Pizarro and they set up a pile of stones together with a cross while singing a Catholic Thanksgiving hymn. They then marched to shore, formally taking possession of the sea in honor of the King and Queen of Spain, Ferdinand and Isabella. Balboa remained on the shore of the Pacific for a month, collecting pearls and gold, and traveling to the Pearl Islands. When he returned to the Isthmus, he was able to conquer more of the native tribes as well as more gold. In 1514, the enemies of Balboa in Spain who envied his accomplishments accused him of treason and were able to convince the king to have him arrested and convicted of the crime. He died in January 1519 by beheading.

Luis Buñuel Portolés
Spanish movie director Luis Bunuel was born in Calanda on February 22, 1900. He was an excellent student but was embarrassed by accolades. He was interested in the violin and natural sciences and even studied entomology with Dr. Bolivar. He forged friendships with young artists at the Student’s Residence, including poets Moreno Villa and Federico Garcia Lorca, and the great painter Salvador Dali. They worked together writing poetry and producing literary publications. Buñuel began his extensive career in films in 1925 when he moved to Paris, with his most notable works inspired by details of his youth. One of his 1929 films was “Un Chien Andalou,” a short film he wrote with Salvador Dali. Later on, there was a significant change in his style as he entered another period in his life. “Robinson Crusoe” is a good example of a film that displayed his entry to the commercial film scene to a certain degree. He died in July 29, 1983 in Mexico City. Some of his more notable films include Tristana, Simon del Desierto, El Angel Exterminador, Ensayo de un Crime, El Bruto, and Los Olvidados, to name a few.

Pedro Almodovar Caballero
Spain’s most significant filmmaker, Pedro Almodovar was born in Calatrava, Ciudad Real on September 24, 1949. At 16, he moved to Madrid to study cinematic arts but the Official School of Cinematic Arts was shut down by General Franco. To support himself he took on several odd jibs until he was finally employed by Spain’s national phone company, Telefonica. In the evenings he wrote and acted with a group called “Los Goliardos,” shooting numerous super 8 films. He was a writer of stories that were published, and was also a member of a punk rock band called Almodovar y McNamara. From the 70s up to the 80s his films were mostly cheap productions, with his as actor and voice talent. His audiences loved his passion and personal involvement in all his film. Being gay some of his films carried homosexual themes. In 1980, he made his first feature length movie, breaking into mainstream cinema with “Pepi, Luci, Bom and Other Girls on the Heap.” Though it was of poor quality it created waves in Spain and earned Almodovar recognition as filmmaker. He had his very first international breakthrough in 1988 with his film, “Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown.” His films have won several awards and international recognition while Buñuel continues to create quality films.

Moses Maimonides
Moses Maimonides, or Moses ben-Maimon was a medieval philosopher and a theologian born in 1135 in Cordoba, which was the seat of Jewish education and the Islamic culture. At the age of 16, he had already displayed a deep interest in the study of theology. Following his family’s persecution from puritanical Almohades they fled towards Fostat, Egypt. Maimonides became a good leader of Egypt’s Jewish community. He studied to be a physician so he can receive wages and became the Egyptian ruler Saladin’s official doctor. Maimonides wrote three essays on the Jewish law including “The Guide for the Perplexed,” which was the most famous. This notable work became the foundation for succeeding Jewish philosophic writings, including the inquiry called the Chakirah. Because he lived in North Africa’s melting pot of religion, he was greatly influenced by the different faiths that surrounded him. Greek and Arab ideas during that time played a major role in making him an extremely tolerant religious leader. Maimonides did not agree that the true prophecy had been for the Jews alone. Rather, he emphasized on the distinction in the level of responsibility. His teachings were also a great influence on non-Jews including Christian leaders like St. Tomas of Aquinas, who referred to him as “Rabbi Moses’ in their work. He succeeded in uniting four cultures, Greco-Roman, Jewish, Arab, and Western, into one, which has been the main reason why he remains a highly influential religious philosopher today.

George Santayana
The Spanish born US philosopher, George Santayana was born in 1863. He was a Bachelor of Arts graduate of Harvard University, and proceeded to take up his PhD in the same university when he was just 26 years of age. During his undergraduate years he maintained membership in 11 clubs, and was also the president of his school’s philosophy club. After acquiring his PhD, he started teaching at Harvard, retiring when he reached his 40s, which was a disappointment for the university that tried to recall him several times, as well as other universities around the world that competed for his services because of his amazing abilities. He returned to Europe upon his retirement and traveled throughout Europe, England, and America until WWI and WWII broke out. During the early years of his life, Santayana wrote poetry. Eventually, he assumed philosophy as his main career. He was a writer of numerous books, with his novel, “The Last Puritan” becoming a best-seller worldwide. He was greatly influenced by Aristotle, Lucretius, and Spinoza. Additionally, William James who was considered as one of the fathers of contemporary psychology created an impact on his life as they had been in Harvard together. Santayana died in Rome on September 26, 1952 after battling with cancer.

Jose Ortega y Gasset
Jose Ortega y Gasset, Spanish philosopher and essayist was born in 1833 in Madrid.

He received his doctorate degree in philosophy from the University of Madrid in 1904, and spent five more years studying in Leipzig, Berlin and the University of Marburg. Gasset was an active journalist and politician and founded “Revisita de Occidente,” which was a review of the books instrumental in getting Spain to be in touch with Western thought, specifically, German. His editorial work as well as his being a publisher helped in putting an end to the isolation of Spain from the modern Western culture. He was the leader of a republican intellectual opposition that was under Primo de Rivera’s dictatorship, and in 1931, played a part in overthrowing King Alfonso XIII. He led “La Agrupacion al servicio de la republica” a group of parliamentary intellectuals. He became Madrid’s civil governor, and left Spain during the Civil War. He went back to Madrid in 1948, and became the founder of the Institute of Humanities, where he was a lecturer. He was an extremely creative writer and the head of highly prolific thinkers in Spain. Gasset died in 1955.

Santiago Ramon y Cajal
Spanish histologist and neuroscientist Santiago Ramon y Cajal was born on March 1, 1852 in Petilla, Aragon. His father was a teacher in applied anatomy and wished for son to have a career in medicine, enrolling him in the College of Aesculpian Fathers first, before sending him to the Institute of Huesca. He was a precocious child and a rebel, and was imprisoned at the age of eight for firing a cannon and destroying the gate of his hometown. He was a painter, a gymnast, and an artist. He even tried being a shoemaker and a barber. He went back to school when he was 16 and went into military service upon graduation from medical school. Ramon contracted malaria and tuberculosis while in Cuba and was sent home. He later received his degree of Doctor of Medicine in 1877 and became the director of the Zaragoza Museum in 1879 and the National Institute of Hygiene in 1899. The Cajal Institute, previously named Laboratorio de Investigaciones Biologicas was founded by Cajal in 1922. He initially worked on the cholera microbiology, inflammation pathology and tissue and epithelial cell structures until he learned using silver nitrate preparation when he was in the University of Barcelona in 1887. He then turned to studying the brain. His work contributed largely to the development of the neuron theory, the foundation of neuroscience in modern medicine. He also discovered the axonal growth cone and the interstitial cell of Cajal (named in his honor) and provided detailed drawings and descriptions of cell types in the brain, most of which are still used today. Together with Camilo Golgi he received the Nobel Prize for physiology in 1906.

Isaac Peral y Caballero
The Spanish sailor and engineer who designed the “Peral Submarine,” Isaac Peral Caballero, was born in Cartagena on June 1, 1851. On September 20, 1884, then Lieutenant Isaac Peral had written a paper that led to the conception of the Peral Submarine, entitled “Proyecto de Torpedero Submarino.” After a series of studies and experiments and with the encouragement of his fellow officers and superiors, he decided to present his project to the navy and sent a letter to Spain’s naval minister, Vice-Admiral Pezuela y Lobo in 1885. He was met by the Vice-Admiral in Madrid and was given a budget of 5,000 pesetas to finance preliminary studies before he can approve a full budget. Upset and frustrated Peral resigned from the navy in 1891. He got treatment for a cerebral tumor but contracted meningitis that led to his death in May 1895.

Irish engineer John Philip Holland was making progress with his development of the submarine and Spain based the design of their first submarine on Holland’s design. Spain gave honor to the efforts of Isaac Peral by naming their submarine after him. Peral’s own submarine was initially displayed at the home port of the Spanish navy and was later donated to the city.

Leonardo Torres y Quevedo
Torres y Quevedo was born in Santa Cruz de Iguña, Molledo on December 28, 1852. His family lived in Bilbao, and his father who was a railway engineer, worked there. He had degrees in civil engineering and mathematics and became one of Spain’s most prolific inventors. It can be said that he was way ahead of his time. After joining the forces that defended Bilbao against the Carlist troops, he returned to school to complete his studies. He worked for a time in the same railroad company his father worked for but left soon after to travel abroad because he wanted to learn about the latest technical and scientifice advancements. He then settled in Santander and finance most of his works. His first invention was a new design of the dirigible, which he presented in 1902 in Paris and Madrid. With the help of Alfredo Kindelan, then designed and created a new airship for Spain in 1905, the España. After successful testing, the patent was bought by French company Astra, forming the Astra-Torres partnership. Torres created the automatic chess player, El Ajedrescista in 1910. It was considered the first computer game in the world. He constructed the first cableway in 1887, an aerial cable car and the first cableway to transport people in 1907. He designed and created the aerial cable car that spans the whirlpool on the Canadian side of the Niagara Falls. Everything involved in its construction were done in Spain and by Spanish engineers and constructors. Torres also invented Telekino, the first radio control apparatus and the first remote control in the world. He also presented his designs for analog calculating machines in 1893, 1895 and 1900 that became the basis of the logarithmic number system of modern-day electronics.

Luis Miguel Gonzalez Lucas
Luis Miguel was a well-known Spanish bullfighter who was born in Madrid on November 9, 1926. He was more popularly known as Luis Miguel Dominquin, whose father was the celebrated Domingo Dominquin and debuted at age 11 in a card where Manolete, another bullfighter lost his life. He decided to take the name of his father to gain more popularity. He enjoyed his fame during the forties and fifties not only in Spain but also in other places like Colombia and Portugal. Dominquin was friends with the likes of Pablo Picasso. He had a passionate affair with the actress Ava Gardner, as well as China Machado, who was a famous fashion model. He married Lucia Bose in 1954 and had a son, Miguel Bose, who is a singer and has won a Grammy Award. Ernest Hemingway’s book, “The Dangerous Summer” chronicled the bullfighting competition between Dominquin and Antonio Ordonez. In 1971, at the age of 45, Dominquin went back into the bullring in Las Palma, in the Canary Islands, wearing a costume designed by Pablo Picasso. He was able to kill two bulls and was a winner of one ear, though there were younger bullfighters that were crowd favorites. His last fight was on September 12, 1973 in Barcelona. In 1996, Dominquin died as a result of heart failure at the age of 69.

Severiano “Seve” Ballesteros Sota
Spanish golfing legend Seve Ballesteros was born on April 9, 1957 in Pedrena, Spain. He came from a golfing family and took to golf naturally. His brother provided him with a golf club that was cut down to his size, which he used for practicing when he was very young. At 12 years of age, he was able to win a trophy for a tournament of caddies in Pedrena. His professional career started when he was 16. Two years after, the world took special notice of the Spanish golfer after he took a joint second place along with Jack Nicklaus during the Open. He was finally able to claim the title during the 1979 open, where he was among the youngest of the winners. In 1980, he won at the Augusta Masters, claiming victory another time in 1983. In 1984, he achieved another Open title. His final major was won in 1980. His first Ryder Cup was in 1979, playing on the same side as Irish and British players. In 1983, he played once again, and started the new age of success in the European Ryder Cup. The Seve Ballesteros/Jose Maria Olazabal team-up is considered one of the most successful partnerships in the history of the Ryder Cup. He was selected as captain for the 1997 European Cup held in Spain, leading the side to victory. During the early part of 2000, Ballesteros started to suffer from problems with his back and his knees that cause him to take a break of two years. He was not his old self when he returned in 2005. He retired in 2007, making his announcement during an event where he had made his golfing debut. Ballesteros needed to undergo chemotherapy and went through 4 operations to remove a tumor in his brain. He died on May 7, 2011 after battling with cancer for 3 years.

Carlos Sainz
Spanish racer Carlos Sainz was born in Madrid on September 1, 1994. At the young age of 7, he had already started driving karts at the Indoor Karting of his father in Las Rozas. He began competing seriously in 2005 at the age of 10. In 2006, he won in the “Cadete” category of the Madrid Championship along with teams, MGM, Alemany, and Benikart, coming in third place on the “Trophy of the Industry” in Parma, Italy, and second place at the Champion’s race on year’s end. In the ensuing years, Sainz competed in the Junior category. During his initial year together with the Genikart team, Sainz won “I Trophy International City of Alcaniz Automobile,” finishing third place in Macau at the Asian-Pacific Championship. He won in the same category in 2008, finishing second in the Asian-Pacific Championship held in Macau. Sainz is referred to as the best Spaniard that has been classified in the German and Europe Championship, as well as Italy’s Trophy Andrea Margutti, and the Kart Cup of Monaco. He won the Monaco Kart Cup in 2009, and the “Classificatory” for Western European countries including England, Switzerland, France, Portugal, and Spain. Carlos took second place at the European Championships Final and the Spanish Championship. The Red Bull team selected him in 2010, winning the BMW Scholarship after 4 test days. He took on the Formula BMW European Championship, as well as joined three races of the Formula BMW Asian-Pacific Championship together with the Euro-International team of Antonio Ferrari. During this season, he won in the Formula BMW Asian-Pacific Championship, Macau Circuit. In the 2011 season, Sainz will be competing in two highly celebrated championships at a European level. These are the Northern European Cup and Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0.

Carlos Moya
Tennis great Carlos Moya Llompart of Spain was born on August 27, 1976 in Palma, Majorca. At 12 years of age, he trained under Majorcan tennis player, Alberto Tous, together with Jofre Porta. It was at the age of 17 when he spoke to Juan Bautista Avendaño, a trainer of C.A.R. Sant Cugat in Barcelona, and was able to receive a grant for training in the High Performance Center, which was where a lot of the more select sportsmen train. His coaches were some of the best, including Juan Bautista Avendaño, Miguel Margets, and Joseph Perlas, to name a few. It was in 1994 that he was able to enter into the professional arena. He played the satellite circuit in Andalusia, Catalonia as well as Madrid, where he got his very first points in the ranking of the ATP. He also represented Spain in the Davis Cup. He was runner up in the men’s singles in the Australian Open in 1997 and won his first grand slam title in 1998 at the Roland Garros. Successful results in 1999 in Lipton made him number one in the world. He lost this spot after two weeks, after being defeated by Pete Sampras.

Pedro Carrasco
Pedro Carrasco was a Spanish boxer born in 1943. His reputation surpassed boxing rings. In the seventies, he was Spain’s media favorite, very much like Muhammad Ali and Sugar Ray Leonard in the US. In 1967, he was crowned as the “European Lightweight” champion. His victory was followed after four years when he defeated Mando Ramos in 1971for the WBC World Lightweight title. This victory was accompanied by controversy. He was down on the canvas and the referee was confused whether the knock he received from Ramos at the back of his head was illegal or not. Ultimately, it was decided that it was illegal and Carrasco was declared winner. This made Carrasco an overnight hero in his country, for being the very first Spanish boxing champion of the world. After the controversy regarding the world championship victory over Ramos, a rematch and a rubber match was ordered by the WBC and Ramos won both matches. Carrasco was selected by the WBC in 1983 as one of the best boxers in the past forty years. On 110 of his bouts, he won 105, with 71 of them by knockout, making Carrasco a member of an elite set of boxers carrying over fifty career knockout victories. His death in 2001 came as a shock to his country, mainly because of his very young age. In one article written on a Spanish newspaper, it read that Spain wept for Pedro.

Julio Iglesias
Julio Iglesias is the Spanish all-time master of the romance ballad singer who has sold over 300 million albums in 14 languages and released 77 albums. According to Sony Music he is one of the top 10 best selling music artist ever. Each live performance by Iglesias is a celebration of music. His success has continued as he crossed musical and linguistic barriers being one of the most influential artists of the last 4 decades. In 1983 the Guinness Book of World Records handed him the Diamond Record Award to recognize that he had recorded more records in more languages than any singer in history.

Manolo Blahnik
Living fashion icon Manolo Blahnik is is one of the most prominent shoe designers in the world, the epitome of luxury footwear, the king of sassy, sophisticated and chic shoes. All superlatives are justified for Manolo Blahnik. He is considered the Michelangelo of shoes. „The exclusivity, handcraftsmanship, high style, and wild popularity of Blahnik’s shoes have raised the Spanish-born, London-based cobbler to mythic proportions.

Penelope Cruz
Penelope Cruz, one of Spain’s foremost leading ladies of the 1990s, has managed to gather also international acclaim as a very talented actress in films such as Jamón, Jamón, La Niña de tus ojos, Belle époque, Blow, Vanilla Sky, and Bandidas. She is the first Spanish actress ever to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in Pedro Almodóvar’s 2006 Spanish film Volver.

Fernando Alonso
Is a Spanish Formula One racing driver and a two-time World Champion. He won the World Driver’s Championship title at the age of 24 being the youngest World Drivers’ Champion.

:: References ::
http://historymedren.about.com/od/elcid/a/bio_el_cid.htm
http://www.life123.com/arts-culture/artists/salvador-dali/salvador-dali-biography.shtml
http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/Francisco_Franco.aspx
http://www.elizabethan-era.org.uk/christopher-columbus.htm
http://www.buzzle.com/articles/famous-spanish-people.html
http://www.classiccat.net/falla_m_de/biography.php
http://www.dailyguitar.com/composers/47-joaquin_turina-biography.html
http://www.suite101.com/content/antonio-machado-a60499
http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/163
http://www.oocities.org/thetropics/lagoon/6202/ms.htm
http://www.bach-cantatas.com/Bio/Domingo-Placido.htm
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0007168/bio
http://www.top-tour-of-spain.com/spanish-actors.html
http://womenshistory.about.com/cs/medrenqueens/p/p_isabella_i.htm
http://www.kwintessential.co.uk/articles/article/Spain/Queen-Sofia-of-Spain-/3661
http://www.nndb.com/people/475/000092199/
http://www.calatrava.info/About/Bio.asp
http://www.spain-info.com/barcelona/Antonio-Gaudi-Biography.htm
http://telasiado.suite101.com/miguel-de-cervantes-brief-biography-a109199
http://www.theatrehistory.com/spanish/calderon001.html
http://www.francisco-de-zubaran.com/
http://fcit.usf.edu/florida/lessons/de_leon/de_leon1.htm
http://library.thinkquest.org/J002678F/cortez.htm
http://library.thinkquest.org/J002678F/balboa.htm
http://people.wcsu.edu/mccarneyh/fva/B/LBunuel_bio.html
http://www.almodovarlandia.com/almodovarlandia/biography.htm
http://www.ccel.org/m/maimonides/
http://www.personal-development-training.com/2010/08/george-santayana-quotes-and-biography.html
http://www.philosophyprofessor.com/philosophers/jose-ortega-y-gasset.php
http://www.faqs.org/health/bios/94/Santiago-Ram-n-y-Cajal.html
http://tvwiki.tv/wiki/Leonardo_Torres_y_Quevedo
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_Peral

Seve Ballesteros Biography

http://www.carlossainzjr.com/en/biography.php
http://forevertop.name/athletes/tennis_players/male/carlos_moya.php
http://www.biography-center.com/biography_details.php?bid=8392
http://www.biographybase.com/biography/Carrasco_Pedro.html
http://mundo-taurino.org/cristina.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luis_Miguel_Domingu%C3%ADn