Since the vast majority of Latin Americans from Spanish-speaking countries have at least partial Spanish descent, this is a list of important people in Latin America who have at least one parent or two grandparents who were born in Spain.

Artists, photographers and fashion designers

Humberto Castro Humberto Castro (born Humberto Jesús Castro García in 1957 in Havana, Cuba) is an important Cuban painter. He studied at the Escuela Nacional de Bellas Artes "San Alejandro" and at the Instituto Superior de Arte (ISA) in Havana, Cuba. In 1 ...

(born 1957), Cuban painter *

Carlos Enríquez Gómez Carlos Enríquez Gómez (August 3, 1900 – May 2, 1957), was a Cuban painter, illustrator and writer of the ''Vanguardia'' movement (the Cuban Avant-garde). Along with Víctor Manuel, Amelia Peláez, Fidelio Ponce, Antonio Gattorno, and oth ...

(1900–1957), Cuban painter, illustrator and writer of the Vanguardia movement (the Cuban Avant-garde). * Raúl Martínez (1927–1995), pop artist and Cuban painter * Mario Perez (born 1943), painter * Tomás Sánchez (born 1948), Cuban painter

TV and Cinema

* Angelines Fernández (1922–1994), Spanish actress settled in Mexico. * Mirtha Legrand (born 1927), Argentine actress and TV host. * Guillermo del Toro (born 1964), Mexican director and film producer. *

Velia Martínez Velia Martínez Febles (born June 14, 1920 in Tampa, Florida - May 22, 1993 in Miami, Florida) was a well-known actress, singer and former nightclub dancer. Martínez was born in Tampa to Cuban parents. In 1941, she settled in Havana, where s ...

(1920–1993), American singer and actress. *

Ricardo Montalban Ricardo is the Spanish and Portuguese cognate of the name Richard. It derived from Proto-Germanic ''*rīks'' 'king, ruler' + ''*harduz'' 'hard, brave'. It may be a given name, or a surname. People Given name *Ricardo de Araújo Pereira, Portugu ...

(1920–2009), Mexican actor of Spanish parentage.

Music

* Miguel Bosé (born 1956), Spanish singer with Colombian citizenship * Gloria Estefan (born 1957), Cuban singer, all four grandparents born in Spain. * Juanes (born 1972), Colombian singer, Basque ancestry from his father. *

Ernesto Lecuona Ernesto Lecuona y Casado (; August 7, 1896 – November 29, 1963) was a Cuban composer and pianist, many of whose works have become standards of the Latin, jazz and classical repertoires. His over 600 compositions include songs and zarzuelas as ...

(1895–1963), Cuban composer and pianist. *

Ricky Martin Enrique Martín Morales (born December 24, 1971), known professionally as Ricky Martin, is a Puerto Rican singer, songwriter, and actor. He is known for his musical versatility, with his Ricky Martin albums discography, discography spanning ...

(born 1971), Puerto Rican singer, part Catalan ancestry. * Luis Miguel (born 1970), Puerto Rican by birth, raised in Mexico, Spanish father, Italian mother. *

Shakira Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll ( , ; born 2 February 1977), professionally known by the mononym Shakira, is a Colombian singer and songwriter. Born and raised in Barranquilla, she has been referred to as the " Queen of Latin Music" and is n ...

(born 1977), Colombian singer, part Catalan ancestry.

Government and military

José Gervasio Artigas José Gervasio Artigas Arnal (; June 19, 1764 – September 23, 1850) was a political leader, military general, statesman and national hero of Uruguay and the broader Río de la Plata region. He fought in the Latin American wars of in ...

(1764–1850) * Simón Bolívar (1783–1830) *

José Núñez de Cáceres José Núñez de Cáceres y Albor (March 14, 1772 – September 11, 1846) was a Dominican politician and writer. He is known for being the leader of the independence movement against Spain in 1821 and the only president of the short-lived Repu ...

(1772–1846) politics and liberator of

Dominican Republic The Dominican Republic ( ; es, República Dominicana, ) is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean region. It occupies the eastern five-eighths of the island, which it shares with ...

* Juan Carrasco (1878–1922) * Fidel Castro (1926–2016), Father was an immigrant to Cuba from Galicia and his mother was also of Spanish origin. The Castropedia: Fidel's Cuba in facts and figures
Belfast Telegraph * Manuel Domínguez (1803–1882) *

Juan Manuel Santos Juan Manuel Santos Calderón (; born 10 August 1951) is a Colombian politician who was the President of Colombia from 2010 to 2018. He was the sole recipient of the 2016 Nobel Peace Prize. An economist by profession and a journalist by trade ...

(born 1951), President of Colombia *

José Martí José Julián Martí Pérez (; January 28, 1853 – May 19, 1895) was a Cuban nationalist, poet, philosopher, essayist, journalist, translator, professor, and publisher, who is considered a Cuban national hero because of his role in the libera ...

(1853–1895) * Agustín de Iturbide (1783–1824), Liberator of

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

Juan Leal Juan Leal Goraz (1676–1742 or 1743), also called Juan Leal Gonzal, was a Spanish settler and politician who served as the first ''alcalde'' (a municipal magistrate with both judicial and administrative functions) of La Villa de San Fernando, w ...

(1676–1742) * Juan Ponce de León (1474–1521) *

Juan Ponce de León II Juan Ponce de León II (1524–1591) was a Spanish official and an acting governor of Puerto Rico. He was the first acting governor to be born on the island. Early years Ponce de León II (birth name: Juan Troche Ponce de León), was born in San ...

(1524–1591) *

Francisco de Miranda Sebastián Francisco de Miranda y Rodríguez de Espinoza (28 March 1750 – 14 July 1816), commonly known as Francisco de Miranda (), was a Venezuelan military leader and revolutionary. Although his own plans for the independence of the Spani ...

(1750–1816), Liberator of

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

José Antonio Páez José Antonio Páez Herrera (; 13 June 1790 – 6 May 1873) was a Venezuelan leader who fought against the Spanish Crown for Simón Bolívar during the Venezuelan War of Independence. He later led Venezuela's independence from Gran Colombia. ...

(1790–1873) *

Carlos Soublette Carlos Valentín José de la Soledad Antonio del Sacramento de Soublette y Jerez de Aristeguieta (15 December 1789 – 11 February 1870) was the president of Venezuela from 1837 to 1839 and 1843 to 1847 and a hero of the Venezuelan War of I ...

(1789–1870), Libertador of Venezuela *

Antonio José de Sucre Antonio José de Sucre y Alcalá (; 3 February 1795 – 4 June 1830), known as the "Gran Mariscal de Ayacucho" ( en, "Grand Marshal of Ayacucho"), was a Venezuelan independence leader who served as the president of Peru and as the second p ...

(1795–1830) *

Jorge Quiroga Jorge Fernando Quiroga Ramírez (born 5 May 1960), often referred to as Tuto, is a Bolivian industrial engineer and politician who served as the 62nd president of Bolivia from 2001 to 2002. A former member of Nationalist Democratic Action, he ...

(born 1960), President of Bolivia * Alvaro Garcia Linera (born 1962), Vice President of Bolivia

Writers

Jorge Luis Borges Jorge Francisco Isidoro Luis Borges Acevedo (; ; 24 August 1899 – 14 June 1986) was an Argentine short-story writer, essayist, poet and translator, as well as a key figure in Spanish-language and international literature. His best-known b ...

(1899–1986) * Pablo Neruda (1904–1973) *

Gabriel García Márquez Gabriel José de la Concordia García Márquez (; 6 March 1927 – 17 April 2014) was a Colombian novelist, short-story writer, screenwriter, and journalist, known affectionately as Gabo () or Gabito () throughout Latin America. Considered one ...

(1927–2014)

Others

* Juanita García Peraza (1897–1970), Founder of the "Mita congregation", the only Protestant religion of Puerto Rican origin.

References

{{Reflist Lists of Spanish people

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...