Ildefonso Falcones de Sierra (born 1959) is a Spanish lawyer and writer from

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

. He is best known for writing the best-seller '' Cathedral of the Sea.''

Biography

Ildefonso Falcones is the son of a lawyer and homemaker. He had a career as a horseback rider at the age of 17, becoming the Junior Champion of Spain in

show jumping Show jumping is a part of a group of English riding equestrian events that also includes dressage, eventing, hunters, and equitation. Jumping classes are commonly seen at horse shows throughout the world, including the Olympics. Sometimes ...

, as well as excelling in

field hockey Field hockey is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with ten outfield players and a goalkeeper. Teams must drive a round hockey ball by hitting it with a hockey stick towards the rival team's shooting ...

. His career in sports ended with his father's death that same year. He studied at the College of San Ignacio's Jesuits in Spain. After which, he began his university studies, attempting to earn degrees in economics and law. He eventually decided to drop his studies in economics to balance his studies of law with a job at a bingo in Barcelona. He currently practices law at his own law firm, located in the Ensanche district of Barcelona. And although he previously started his work in literature, for the past few years he has had to balance his work with his passion for writing books. It took him 5 years to finish his first novel. He became famous with the historical thriller '' Cathedral of the Sea'', published in 2006, and set in 14th century

. His second novel, ''La mano de Fátima'' (2009), deals with the

Morisco revolt Moriscos (, ; pt, mouriscos ; Spanish for "Moorish") were former Muslims and their descendants whom the Roman Catholic church and the Spanish Crown commanded to convert to Christianity or face compulsory exile after Spain outlawed the open p ...

and later

expulsion of the Moriscos The Expulsion of the Moriscos ( es, Expulsión de los moriscos) was decreed by King Philip III of Spain on April 9, 1609. The Moriscos were descendants of Spain's Muslim population who had been forced to convert to Christianity. Since the Spani ...

. His third novel was ''La reina descalza'' (2013), set in between Seville and Madrid in the 18th century, follows the interwoven lives of two women (a former slave from Cuba and a gypsy from Triana) with the

Great Gypsy Round-up The Great Gypsy Round-up ( es, Gran Redada de Gitanos), also known as the general imprisonment of the Gypsies (''prisión general de gitanos''), was a raid authorized and organized by the Spanish Monarchy that led to the arrest of most Roma in the ...

as a backdrop. His fourth novel, ''Los herederos de la tierra'', is a continuation to ''La catedral del mar''. His fifth novel, ''El pintor de almas'' (2019), set in the mired by social conflict early 20th-century Barcelona, follows the life of an artist and his uneasy relation with an anarchist. In 2015, Ildefonso Falcones was accused of defrauding the Spanish Treasury of 1,4 million euros between 2009 and 2011 by transferring the copyrights of his works to companies based outside of Spain. In 2016, the case was dismissed when the judge considered that the sale of the copyright for his first novel was in 2004, two years before its editorial success, showing that there was no intent to commit a "fraudulent and malicious manoeuver by said action". However, by February 2018 he was facing those charges again, which could attract a prison sentence up to 9 years.El fiscal pide 9 años de cárcel para el escritor Ildefonso Falcones por fraude fiscal
en ''El País''

Views and positions

From an ideological standpoint, he has voiced himself as a supporter of the People's Party (PP). He supported

Mariano Rajoy Mariano Rajoy Brey (; born 27 March 1955) is a Spanish politician who served as Prime Minister of Spain from 2011 to 2018, when a vote of no confidence ousted his government. On 5 June 2018, he announced his resignation as People's Party le ...

in 2008, the then PP's prime ministerial candidate vis-à-vis the 2008 general election, in a political act at the Santa Maria del Mar church together with other leaders of the People's Party of Catalonia, like Dolors Nadal and

Daniel Sirera Daniel Sirera Bellés (born 30 July 1967 in Badalona) is a Spanish politician. He served as the chairman of the People's Party in Catalonia (PPC) from 2007–2008.La catedral del mar'' (2006) * ' (2009) * '' La reina descalza'' (2013) * ' (2016) * '' El pintor de almas'' (2019)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Falcones, Ildefonso 1958 births Living people Writers from Barcelona Spanish male writers