she was born gloria fajardo on september 1, 1957, in havana, cuba. as a toddler, estefan fled cuba with her family when communist dictator fidel castro rose to power. her father, jose manuel fajardo, had been a cuban soldier and bodyguard of former president fulgencio batista. her maternal grandfather, leonardo garcía, immigrated to cuba from pola de siero, asturias, spain. he married gloria's maternal grandmother in pola de siero, asturias, spain. her maternal grandmother is originally from logroño, spain.