Ildefonso Falcones de Sierra is a Spanish lawyer and writer from Barcelona. He became famous with the historical thriller Cathedral of the Sea, published in 2006, and set in medieval Barcelona. His second novel is La mano de Fátima, his third La Reina Descalza.
Biography
Ildefonso Falcones is the son of a lawyer and homemaker. He had a career as a rider at the age of 17, becoming the Junior Champion of Spain in show jumping, as well as excelling in field hockey. 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. Ideologically, he has always been a supporter of the People's Party. He supported Mariano Rajoy in 2008, the then People's Party candidate to the general elections of Spain, in a political act in the Santa Maria del Mar church together with other leaders of the People's Party of Catalonia, like Dolors Nadal and Daniel Sirera. 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 of 9 years.
