Spanish Celebrities Born In July

Elsa Pataky is one of the most famous Spanish models and actresses to make it big in the American film industry. She is best known for playing Officer Elena Neves alongside Dwayne Johnson in The Fast and the Furious film franchise. A polyglot, Elsa Pataky can speak Spanish, English, Romanian, Portuguese, French, and Italian fluently.

Two-time FIA Hall of Fame inductee Fernando Alonso began go-carting at age 3 and won several trophies by 10. The youngest to win the F-1 World Championship, for Renault, he later led a Ferrari team. When he isn’t racing, he is busy managing his e-sports team and working for UNICEF.

Jose Andres is a Spanish-born American restaurateur and chef. Andrés, who owns restaurants in many American cities like Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., New York City, Las Vegas, and Chicago, is credited with introducing the concept of small plates dining to America. Jose Andres was honored with the 2015 National Humanities Medal for founding a non-profit organization called World Central Kitchen.

Victoria Abril is a Spanish singer and actress. International audiences mainly recognize her for her role in the film ¡Átame! She began her career in the mid-1970s and found fame almost immediately. In the ensuing years, she appeared in films in Italy, France, and Iceland as well. She made her debut as a singer with a Bossanova-jazz album in 2005.

Jordi Mollà is a Spanish actor, writer, filmmaker, and artist. A critically acclaimed actor, Mollà has been thrice nominated for the prestigious Goya Award for Best Actor. His portrayal of Daniel in the 1997 Spanish drama film, The Lucky Star, earned him a Butaca Award. A self-taught painter, Mollà showcased his works at the Carmen de la Guerra in 2002.

Born to a British mother and a Spanish father in Madrid, Leonor Watling initially wished to a ballerina but had to quit training due to a knee injury. She then turned toward acting and later earned Goya nominations for two Spanish films. She also dubbed for Anne Hathaway in Hoodwinked.

Spanish pianist and composer Enrique Granados gained fame with his nationalistic music. He is remembered for his iconic work Goyescas, which premiered as an opera in New York. Granados lost his life when the ship he was traveling to England in drowned after being torpedoed by a German submarine.

Santiago Calatrava Valls is a Spanish architect and a structural engineer, internationally known for his sculptural bridges and buildings. Beginning his career in Zurich, building industrial and transportation structures, he soon became famed for his extraordinary designs and began to receive commissions from abroad, designing and building marvelous bridges, stadiums, museums, railway stations, airports, office buildings all over the world.

María Cristina De Habsburgo-Lorena is better known as the Spanish king Alfonso XII’s queen consort, who acted as the queen regent after her husband’s death and before her son came of age to rule on his own. Her regency was the longest in the history of Spanish royalty.

Her activism and outspokenness had earned Princess María Teresa of Bourbon-Parma the nickname Red Princess. Part of the Spanish royal family, she was educated at the Sorbonne. She later supported the Carlist movement and was a champion of women’s rights, too. She eventually died of COVID-19 at age 86.

Spanish painter Elías García Martínez was trained at an art academy in Barcelona and then served as a professor of ornamental and portrait painting throughout his life. One of his popular frescos in Borja, Ecce Homo, was destroyed by a woman because it needed to be restored, causing international uproar.

Manny Charlton is a Spanish guitarist. He is credited with co-founding the popular hard rock band Nazareth where he served as the lead guitarist between 1968 and 1990. Manny Charlton played a major role in the worldwide success of the band. Apart from playing the guitar, Manny Charlton also served as the band's producer for several years.

Javier Solana is a Spanish physicist and politician. He is best known for his service as the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Spain from 16 June 1992 to 18 December 1995. Over the course of his career, Javier Solana has been honored with many prestigious awards, such as the Charlemagne Prize, Vision for Europe Award, and Charles V European Award.

Uruguayan-Spanish artist Joaquín Torres-García didn’t like the conservative style promoted at his Barcelona art academy and deviated more toward Impressionist and post-Impressionist art instead. He later brought Constructivism to South American countries. The Taller Torres García founder is best remembered for his work Monumento Cosmico.

Spanish diplomat, writer, historian, and pacifist Salvador de Madariaga is best-remembered for his service at the League of Nations and for his books and essays. He was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize and Nobel Prize in Literature, and received the Karlspreis. One of his novels, The Heart of Jade is widely regarded as a remarkable work of modern Spanish-language literature.

Spanish filmmaker and actor Santiago Segura Silva is best known for writing, directing and starring in the popular film series Torrente. He rose to fame with Torrente, el brazo tonto de la ley, the first film of the series, which emerged as the highest-grossing Spanish film of all time, later surpassed by its sequel Torrente 2: Misión en Marbella.   

Joan Enric Vives Sicília, the bishop of Urgell, was born to common retailers in Barcelona. He also holds the title of the Co-Prince of Andorra and has earned accolades and honors such as the Grand Cross of the Order of Christ from Portugal. He believes in the motto Parare vias Domini. 

The son of a Spanish metalworker, Ignacio Zuloaga was mostly a self-taught artist. His paintings depict the Spanish culture and are full of motifs such as bullfighters and flamenco dancers. Best known for his works such as Daniel Zuloaga and His Daughters, he spent much of his life in Paris.