This list, in alphabetical order within categories, of notable hispanic people of Spanish heritage and descent born and raised in Spain, or of direct Spanish descent.
Note: The same person may appear under several headings. +Reino de España (Spanish) (Flag of Spain) (Coat of Arms of Spain)
Actors
Victoria Abril (born 1957) Georgina Amorós (born 1998) Elena Anaya (born 1975) Antonio Banderas (born 1960) Javier Bardem (born 1969) Pilar Bardem (1939–2021) Amparo Baró (1937–2015) Claudia Bassols (born 1979) Ana Belén (born 1951) Àstrid Bergès-Frisbey (born 1986) Miguel Bernardeau (born 1996) Juan Diego Botto (born 1975) Mario Casas (born 1986) Javier Cámara (born 1967) Inma Cuesta (born 1980) Mark Consuelos (born 1970) Úrsula Corberó (born 1989) Penélope Cruz (born 1974) Ana de Armas (born 1988) Carla Díaz (born 1998) Gabino Diego (born 1966) Lola Dueñas (1908–1983) Andrea Duro (born 1991) Paula Echevarría (born 1977) Itzan Escamilla (born 1997) Ester Expósito (born 2000) Angelines Fernández (1922–1994) Angy Fernández (born 1990) Bibiana Fernández (born 1954) Fernando Fernán Gómez (1921–2007) Alba Flores (born 1986) Elena Furiase (born 1988) Juan Luis Galiardo (1940–2012) Macarena García (born 1988) Sancho Gracia (1936–2012) Chus Lampreave (1930–2016) Alfredo Landa (1933–2013) Sergi López (actor) (born 1965) José Luis López Vázquez (1922–2009) Iván Massagué (born 1976) Carmen Maura (born 1945) Ana Milán (born 1973) Jordi Mollà (born 1968) Lina Morgan (1936–2015) Irene Montalà (born 1976) Sara Montiel (1928–2013) Abril Montilla Parra (born 2000) Paul Naschy (1934–2009) Najwa Nimri (born 1972) Eduardo Noriega (born 1973) Elsa Pataky (born 1976) María Pedraza (born 1996) Lucía Ramos (born 1991) Fernando Rey (1917–1994) Manu Ríos (born 1998) Blanca Romero (born 1976) Sara Sálamo (born 1992) Claudia Salas (born 1994) Marina Salas (born 1988) Fernando Sancho (1916–1990) Santiago Segura (born 1965) Miguel Ángel Silvestre (born 1982) Blanca Suárez (born 1988) Luis Tosar (born 1971) María Valverde (born 1986) Concha Velasco (1939–2023) Paz Vega (born 1976) Maribel Verdú (born 1970)
Artists
David Aja (born 1977), comics artist Leonardo Alenza (1807–1845), Romantic painter Hermenegildo Anglada (1871–1959), Catalan modernist painter Alonso Berruguete (c. 1488–1561), Spanish Renaissance painter and sculptor Pedro Berruguete (c. 1450–1504), Spanish Renaissance painter Aureliano de Beruete (1845–1912), painter Felipe Bigarny (c. 1475–1542), Spanish Renaissance sculptor María Blanchard (1881–1932), Cubist painter Lita Cabellut (born 1961), painter Eugenio Cajés (c. 1534–1574), Baroque painter Alonso Cano (1601–1667), Baroque painter Juan Caro de Tavira (fl. 17th century), painter Juan Carreño de Miranda (1614–1685), Baroque painter Ramon Casas (1866–1932), Catalan Modernist painter Antonio del Castillo (1616–1668), Baroque painter Charris (born 1962), painter Chumy Chúmez (1927–2003), cartoonist José de Creeft (1884–1982), Modernist sculptor and teacher Claudio Coello (1642–1693), Baroque painter Anabel Colazo (born 1993), illustrator and cartoonist Luis de la Cruz y Ríos (1776-1853) Spanish painter Salvador Dalí (1904–1989), Surrealist artist Óscar Domínguez (1906–1957), Surrealist artist Antonio María Esquivel (1806–1857), Romantic painter Joaquim Espalter (1809–1880), Orientalist painter Gregorio Fernández (1576–1636), Baroque sculptor Pasqual Ferry (born 1961), comics artist Marià Fortuny (1838–1874), Romantic painter Pablo Gargallo (1881–1934), Cubist sculptor Antoni Gaudí (1852–1926), Catalan Modernist architect and sculptor Francisco de Goya (1746–1828), Romantic painter and engraver Julio González (1876–1942), Cubist sculptor Eugenio Granell (1912–2001), Surrealist painter El Greco (1541–1614), Spanish Renaissance painter and sculptor Juan Gris (1887–1927), Cubist painter Carlos de Haes (1829–1898), Realist painter Francisco Herrera the Elder (c. 1590 – 1656), painter Francisco Herrera the Younger (1622–1685), painter and architect Juan de Juanes (c. 1507–1579), Spanish Renaissance painter Antonio López (born 1936), Realist painter and sculptor José de Madrazo (1781–1859), Neoclassical painter Juan Bautista Maíno (1581–1649), Baroque painter Maruja Mallo (1902–1995), Surrealist painter Juan Bautista Martínez del Mazo (1612–1667), Baroque painter Pedro de Mena (1628–1688), Baroque sculptor Joaquin Mir (1873–1940), Catalan Modernist painter Joan Miró (1893–1983), Surrealist painter, sculptor and ceramist Juan Fernández Navarrete (1526–1579), Spanish Renaissance painter Isidre Nonell (1872–1911), Modernist painter Darío de Regoyos (1857–1913), Impressionist painter Jusepe de Ribera (1591–1652), Baroque painter Lluís Rigalt (1814–1894), Romantic painter Diego de Siloé (c. 1495–1563), Spanish Renaissance architect and sculptor Joaquín Sorolla (1863–1923), Impressionist painter Bartolomé Esteban Murillo (1618–1682), Baroque painter Pilar Nouvilas i Garrigolas (1854–1938), Spanish painter Bartolomé Ordóñez (c. 1480–1520), Spanish Renaissance sculptor Pedro Orrente (1580–1645), Baroque painter Rodrigo de Osona (c. 1440–c. 1518), Spanish Renaissance painter Carlos Pacheco (born 1961), comics artist Juan Pantoja de la Cruz (1553–1608), painter Laura Pérez Vernetti (born 1958), cartoonist and illustrator Pablo Picasso (1881–1973), painter and sculptor, co-founder of Cubism Francesc Ribalta (1565–1628), Baroque painter Luisa Roldán (1652–1706), Baroque sculptor Pedro Roldán (1624–1699), Baroque sculptor Julio Romero de Torres (1874–1930), Symbolist painter Eduardo Rosales (1836–1873), Purist painter Santiago Rusiñol (1861–1931), Catalan Modernist painter and poet Alonso Sánchez Coello (1531–1588), Spanish Renaissance painter Juan Sánchez Cotán (1560–1627), Baroque painter Antoni Tàpies (1923–2012), abstract Expressionist painter Trini Tinturé (1935–2024), cartoonist and illustrator Luis Tristán (c. 1585–1624), Spanish Renaissance painter Juan de Valdés Leal (1622–1690), Baroque painter Juan Van der Hamen (1596–1631), Romantic painter Eugenio Lucas Velázquez (1817–1870), Romantic painter Diego Velázquez (1599–1660), Baroque painter Jenaro Pérez Villaamil (1807–1854), painter Fernando Yáñez de la Almedina (1505–1537), Spanish Renaissance painter Ignacio Zuloaga (1870–1945), painter Francisco de Zurbarán (1598–1644), Baroque painter
Explorers and conquerors
Lope de Aguirre (1511–1561), soldier and adventurer, explored the Amazon River looking for El Dorado Diego de Almagro (1475–1538), explorer and conquistador, first European in Chile Luis de Moscoso Alvarado (1505–1551), explorer and conquistador. Juan Bautista de Anza (1736–1788), soldier and explorer, founded San Francisco, California Sebastián de Belalcázar (1480–1551), first explorer in search of El Dorado in 1535 and conqueror of Ecuador and southern Colombia (Presidencia of Quito), founded Quito 1534, Cali 1536, Pasto 1537, and Popayán 1537 Fray Tomás de Berlanga (1487–1551), bishop of Panama, discovered the Galápagos Islands Juan Bermúdez (1450–1520), explorer and skier, discovered the Bermuda Islands Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca (c. 1490–c. 1559), first European to explore the southwestern of what is now the United States (1528–1536), also explored South America (1540–1542) Juan Rodríguez Cabrillo (1499–1543), explorer, discovered California Andrés Dorantes de Carranza (ca. 1500–1550), explorer and one of the four last survivors of the Narváez expedition. Gabriel de Castilla (1577–1620), sailor; in 1603 he became probably the first man ever to sight Antarctica Cosme Damián Churruca (1761–1805), explorer, astronomer and naval officer, mapped the Strait of Magellan (1788–1789) Francisco Vásquez de Coronado (c. 1510–1554), explored New Mexico and other parts of the southwest of what is now the United States (1540–1542) Hernán Cortés (1485–1547), conquistador of the Aztec Empire, explorer of Baja California Peninsula Juan Sebastián Elcano (1476–1526), explorer and sailor, first man to circumnavigate the world Gaspar de Espinosa (1467/1477–1537), soldier and explorer, first European to reach the coast of Nicaragua, co-founder of Panama City Diego Duque de Estrada (1589–1647), soldier, explorer, writer Salvador Fidalgo (1756–1803), naval officer and cartographer, explored Alaska in 1790, he named Cordova, Port Gravina, and Valdez Miguel López de Legazpi (1502–1572), explored and conquered the Philippine Islands in 1565 Vasco Núñez de Balboa (1475–1519), first European to sight the Pacific Ocean, founder of Darién Francisco de Orellana (c. 1500–c. 1549), first European to explore the Amazon River Pedrarias Dávila (Pedro Arias de Ávila, 1440–1531), conquistador, founder of Panama and governor of Nicaragua Francisco Pizarro (1471–1541), conqueror of the Inca Empire in Peru Juan Ponce de León (1460–1521), first European to explore Florida (1513); founded the first European settlement in Puerto Rico (1508) Alonso del Castillo Maldonado (died c. 1540), explorer and one of the four last survivors of the Narváez expedition. Gaspar de Portolà (c. 1717–aft. 1784), explorer, founder of Monterey, California Bartolomé Ruiz (c. 1482–1532), first European to explore Ecuador; pilot for Pizarro and Columbus Hernando de Soto (1500–1542), explorer and conquistador, first European to explore the plains of eastern North America; discovered the Mississippi River and the Ohio River Pedro de Valdivia (c. 1500–1554), conquistador of Chile, founder of Santiago, Concepción, and Valdivia Pedro de los Ríos y Gutiérrez de Aguayo (died 1547), Royal Spanish governor of Castilla del Oro Vicente Yáñez Pinzón (c. 1461?–1514), explorer and sailor, first European to reach the coast of Brazil Amaro Rodríguez Felipe (c. 1678–1747), pirate Isabel de Urquiola (1854–1911), explorer
Film directors
Pedro Almodóvar (born 1949) Alejandro Amenábar (born 1972) Montxo Armendáriz (born 1949) Carlos Atanes (born 1971) Juanma Bajo Ulloa (born 1967) Jaume Balagueró (born 1968) Juan Antonio Bardem (1922–2002) Juan Antonio Bayona (born 1975) Icíar Bollaín (born 1967) José Luis Borau (1929–2012) Luis Buñuel (1900–1983) Mario Camus (1935–2021) Segundo de Chomón (1871–1929) Isabel Coixet (born 1962) Helena Cortesina (1903–1984) Agustín Díaz Yanes (born 1950) Víctor Erice (1940) Arantxa Echevarría (1968) Fernando Fernán Gómez (1921–2007) Amparo Fortuny Jesús Franco (1930–2013) José Luis Garci (born 1944) Luis García Berlanga (1921–2010) Manuel Gutiérrez Aragón (born 1942) Álex de la Iglesia (born 1965) Fernando León de Aranoa (born 1968) Bigas Luna (1946–2013) Ana Mariscal (1923–1995) Basilio Martín Patino (1930–2017) Julio Médem (born 1958) Pilar Miró (1940–1997) Josefina Molina (born 1936) Paul Naschy (1934–2009) Amando de Ossorio (1918–2001) Ventura Pons (1945–2024) Gracia Querejeta (1962) Clara Roquet (1988) José Luis Sáenz de Heredia (1911–1992) Carlos Saura (1932–2023) Santiago Segura (born 1965) David Trueba (born 1969) Fernando Trueba (born 1955) Agustí Villaronga (1953–2023) Benito Zambrano (born 1964) Lydia Zimmermann (born 1966) Iván Zulueta (1943–2009)
Leaders and politicians
Medieval ancestors
Liuvigild (519-586) was a Visigothic king of Hispania and Septimania from 567 to 586. Pelayo of Asturias (690–737), founding king of the Kingdom of Asturias Abd-ar-Rahman III (891–961), Emir (912–929) and Caliph of Córdoba (929–961) Al-Mansur (c. 938–1002), de facto ruler of Muslim Al-Andalus in late 10th and early 11th centuries Alfonso X of Castile (1221–1284)
Modern
Isabella of Castile, the Catholic (1451–1504), Queen of Castile and León (1474–1504, with Ferdinand) Ferdinand II, the Catholic (1452–1516), King of Aragon (1479–1516), Castile and León (1474–1504, with Isabella), Sicily (1479–1516), Naples (1504–1516) and Valencia (1479–1516) Francisco Jiménez de Cisneros (1436–1517), cardinal, statesman, and regent of Spain Juana of Castile, frequently called "the Mad", queen of Castile and León; daughter of Isabella and Ferdinand