Famous Playwrights from Spain

List of notable or famous playwrights from Spain, with bios and photos, including the top playwrights born in Spain and even some popular playwrights who immigrated to Spain. If you're trying to find out the names of famous Spanish playwrights then this list is the perfect resource for you. These playwrights are among the most prominent in their field, and information about each well-known playwright from Spain is included when available.

List is made up of many different people, including Federico García Lorca and Miguel de Cervantes.

This historic playwrights from Spain list can help answer the questions "Who are some Spanish playwrights of note?" and "Who are the most famous playwrights from Spain?" These prominent playwrights of Spain may or may not be currently alive, but what they all have in common is that they're all respected Spanish playwrights.

Use this list of renowned Spanish playwrights to discover some new playwrights that you aren't familiar with. Don't forget to share this list by clicking one of the social media icons at the top or bottom of the page. {#nodes}
Photo: Freebase / Public domain

  • Alfonso Vallejo
    Photo: user uploaded image
    Alfonso Vallejo (born 1943, Santander) is a Spanish playwright, poet, painter and neurologist. He has published 34 plays and 25 poetry books. Vallejo was awarded the Lope de Vega prize in 1976 for his play "El desgüace". "Ácido Sulfúrico" was the runner up prize in 1975. In 1978 he received the Internacional Tirso de Molina prize for his work A Tumba Abierta. The Spanish Royal Academy (Real Academia Española), in 1981, awarded Vallejo the Fastenrath de la Real Academia prize for "El cero transparente". Vallejo's plays have been performed in many cities in Europe, the United States and South America. His works have also been translated into French, German, Arabic, Italian, Portuguese and ...more
    • Age: 80
    • Birthplace: Europe, Cantabria, Santander, Southern Europe, Spain
  • Antonio Estrada
    Photo: user uploaded image
    Antonio Estrada is an actor, a theatre director and a playwright.
    • Age: 67
  • Carlos Atanes
    Photo: user uploaded image
    Carlos Atanes (born November 8, 1971 in Barcelona, Spain) is a Spanish film director, writer and playwright. His first finished feature-length movie is FAQ: Frequently Asked Questions, which he released in 2004. The movie won the Best Feature Film Award at the Athens Panorama of Independent Filmmakers in 2005 and was also nominated for the Méliès d'Argent at Fantasporto that same year.
    • Age: 51
    • Birthplace: Barcelona, Spain
  • Carlos Fernández Shaw
    Photo: user uploaded image
    Carlos Fernández Shaw (23 September 1865 – 7 June 1911) was a Spanish poet, playwright, and journalist. He wrote the texts for many zarzuelas, including La revoltosa, La chavala and Las bravías, all in collaboration with José López Silva and with music by Ruperto Chapí. He also wrote the libretto for Chapí's through-written opera Margarita la tornera. He later wrote the libretto for La vida breve by Manuel de Falla, based on his tragic poem of gypsy life La chavalilla and drawing on ideas from La chavala. He wrote articles for La epoca, La illustración and El correo.Fernández Shaw was born in Cadiz, the son of a Spanish father and an English mother. He was the father of the equally ...more
    • Age: Dec. at 45 (1865-1911)
    • Birthplace: Spain
  • Edgar Neville Romrée, Count of Berlanga de Duero (28 December 1899 – 23 April 1967) was a Spanish playwright and film director, a member of the "other" Generation of '27.
    • Age: Dec. at 67 (1899-1967)
    • Birthplace: Madrid, Spain
  • Enrique Jardiel Poncela
    Photo: user uploaded image
    Enrique Jardiel Poncela (15 October 1901 – 18 February 1952) was a Spanish playwright and novelist who wrote mostly humorous works. In 1932-33 and 1934 he was called to Hollywood to help with the Spanish-language versions shot in parallel to the English-language films. His daughter, Evangelina, wrote a book entitled, Mi padre (My Father).
    • Age: Dec. at 50 (1901-1952)
    • Birthplace: Madrid, Spain