Mónica Cruz Sánchez

Early life
She was born in the working-class town of Alcobendas, Madrid, Spain, the daughter of Encarna Sánchez, a hairdresser, and Eduardo Cruz, a retailer and auto mechanic. Throughout her childhood, Cruz lived in Alcobendas. Cruz is the middle child of three siblings; she has an older sister, Penélope, who is an actress, and a younger brother, Eduardo (born in 1986), who is a singer. Her parents divorced in 1999, and her father remarried Carmen Moreno in 2003. Moreno gave birth to a baby girl, Salma Cruz, on February 24, 2012. Penélope and Mónica distinguished themselves as promising young dancers and both received professional instruction; Penélope attended Spain’s National Conservatory while Mónica enrolled in The Royal Academy of Dance to study traditional ballet and flamenco.