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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Marc López is a Spanish professional tennis player who won a Grand Slam title at the 2016 French Open in men's doubles with Feliciano López as his partner. The same year, at the Rio Olympics, he won the gold medal in men's doubles for Spain partnering Rafael Nadal. Marc and Feliciano also played at the 2017 US Open. 

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.