Top 9 celebrities born in Madrid

Top 9 celebrities born in Madrid

Image: Wikimedia Commons

There are many cities and towns in Madrid, Spain. It is a beautiful Spanish city, known for its culture, people, food, and yes, football! There are many celebrities in this city, not just footballers but from many other sectors as well. 

Let us look at nine celebrities born in this city. I bet you did not know that some of these celebrities were born in Madrid! Enjoy!

1. Enrique Iglesias

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The guy with an amazing voice, Enrique Iglesias was born in Madrid! You have to know Enrique. His father is the famous Julio Iglesias; who Enrique takes his love for after. Enrique started his music career at a very young age; born on May 8th, 1975, Enrique took an interest in music while still in school in Miami. He relocated from Madrid to Miami after his grandfather was kidnapped and he joined his father who was on tour a lot. While in school, he worked on Hello, Dolly! After high school, he was enrolled at the University of Miami where he dropped out in his second year to focus on music. He had hidden his talent in music from his parent, even using the name Enrique Martinez in a bid to make a name for himself. He worked on an album featuring both English and Spanish songs and in 1995, he got a breakthrough when ‘Enrique Iglesias’ sold a record 6 million copies, also going gold in Portugal. After that, there was no looking back for the superstar! He has walked away with a Grammy Award, Billboard Award, and many others. His hits include Hero, Escape, Maybe, Be With You, among many more. He has three children with tennis player Anna Kournikova.

2. David de Gea

Image; Wikimedia Commons

De Gea is a very popular name in the world of football and if you love football or have interacted with the game, then you must know him. You might not know he was born in Madrid, but yes, he comes from there! He is the goalkeeper for the Red Devils – Manchester United FC and the Spain National Football, Team. He is, in fact often considered as one of the best goalkeepers in the world. For 18 Million Pounds, De Gea joined Manchester United from Atletico Madrid where he had played since his debut in football. He started at Atletico Madrid going through the academy system and began playing professionally at 18 years. He was at the club when it won the 2010 UEFA Super Cup as well as the Europa Super League. He was then absorbed into Manchester United, where he has been playing since then. 

3. Marian Rivera

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Marian is a Filipino, yes, but she was born in Madrid! Surprising right? She is famous for hit Filipino soaps including ‘Marimar’, which was her first appearance on TV and which catapulted her to fame in 2007. She has since had other hits including ‘My Bestfriend’s Girlfriend’ and ‘Panday 2’. Shee has been ranked third in the Top Most In-Demand Celebrity Endorsers in the country. She also doubles up as a model and recording artiste! She is married to Filipino actor Dingdong Dantes. She is also a philanthropist who is now the Goodwill Ambassador for Smile Train in the Philippines. 

4. Alba Flores

Image: Wikipedia

Alba is one of the most charismatic and talented characters you will ever meet. If you are wondering why she looks so familiar, wonder no more. You probably saw her as ‘Nairobi’ in the popular Netflix series Money Heist or the series Locked-Up (Vis a Vis) as Saray Vergas! She was born Alba Gonzalez Villa on October 27th, 1986, and started acting very early, taking acting classes at the age of 13. She comes from a family of actors and that explains her interest in performance. She made appearances in ‘El Calentito’, ‘Honeymoon in Hiroshima’, and ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’, ‘The Memory of Water’, ‘The Time in Between’, and ‘Pasapalabra’ among others. 

5. Alvaro Morata

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Morata is Atletico Madrid’s striker and also plays in the Spain National Team. He was born on October 23rd, 1992 and he loved football since he was a child. He joined Real Madrid Academy at the age of 3! He was used as a mascot sometimes and was there until he was 13. He later moved to Atletico Madrid where he trained for two years. Even though his parents fully supported his love for football, they insisted that their son had to also focus on school and they wanted him to study medicine!

6. Pepe Reina

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Pepe Reina is currently the Aston Villa FC goalkeeper and also plays for the Spain National Football Team. The footballer was born in Madrid on August 31st, 1982, and had played for Liverpool FC between 2005 and 2014 and Bayern Munich. He started at Barcelona FC in its youth team and played for reserved before joining the senior squad. In 2005, he moved from Liverpool FC where he had played three seasons, to Barcelona FC and he also left the club in 2014. He then moved to Napoli where he played for one season and then moved to Bayern where he played for another one season then moved to Bayern Munich. He was there for three seasons and moved back to Napoli for three years.

The clean sheet goalkeeper has been part of the Spanish team when they won the 2010 World Cup and has won the Liverpool Player of the Season in 2009/10.

7. Elsa Pataky

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You probably know Elsa from many movies, but the most notable ones being the Fast and Furious franchise where she acted as Elena Neves. She was born Elsa Lafuente Medinau in Madrid Spain, on July 18th, 1976 to a publicist mother and a biochemist father. She has appeared in more than 10 Spanish movies since she first landed her role in ‘Al Salir de Clase’. She has also done a lot in Hollywood and worked on a lot of popular movies there. She is married to a movie start Chris Harmsworth and they have three children together. She has acted in ‘Snakes on a Plane’, ‘Twelfth Night’, ‘Skate or Die’, ‘Mr. Nice’, ’12 Strong’, ‘The Art of Dying’ among others.

8. Julio Iglesias 

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Yes, he is Enrique Iglesias’ father. He was born on September 23, 1943, as Julio José Iglesias de la Cueva. He was not born with an interest in music. He was a budding footballer who even played for Real Madrid in his young life. Then he got sick with a tumor and had to be hospitalized after he got paralyzed therefore his football dream died. He started playing the guitar in his hospital room, a gift from one of the hospital staff and he would play songs once in a while. After his high school education, he enrolled in law school but moved to the United Kingdom to study English after his recovery and that is when his music career was nurtured. He released his first album in 1969, Yo Canto which performed very well. His song ‘Gwendolyne’ performed exceptionally well and he ended up doing more music in German, Italian, Portuguese and French. ‘1100 Bel Air Place’, his first English album sold millions of copies and he has since done very many collaborations like with Dolly Parton, Diana Ross, Stevie Wonder, Willie Nelson, and Frank Sinatra, among others. He has received the Grammy and many other accolades. He has written an autobiography ‘Between Heaven and Hell’ and in 2001, he went ahead to complete his Law Degree in Spain!

 10. Penelope Cruz

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The beautiful Penelope Sanches Cruz was born in Madrid, Spain on April 28th, 1974. She started her acting career after being signed at the age of 15. She has not stopped acting since then. Penelope trained in Classical and Jazz music as well as training for ballet for nine years at Spain’s National Conservatory and also trained in theater. She has appeared in very many movies in Spain and internationally. She first appeared in ‘The Greek Labyrinth’ which was completed in 1991 but had appeared in several music videos before that. She acted alongside Johnny Depp in the movie ‘Blow’ as well as in ‘The Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stronger Tides’, Scarlet Johansson, and also Javier Bardem (who is now her husband). Some of the other notable movies she has appeared in include ‘Vicky Christina Barcelona’ which won her an Oscar Award in 2008, ‘The Goodnight, To Rome With Love’, ‘The Counselor, Zoolander 2’, ‘Broken Embraces’, ‘The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story’, ‘Murder on the Orient Express’, as well as Wasp Network in 2019. 

She has accolades like a nomination and award for The Academy Awards.