Penélope Cruz Says Her Kids with Javier Bardem Have More ‘Freedom’ Living in Madrid: ‘They Deserve That’
Penélope Cruz Says Her Kids with Javier Bardem Have More ‘Freedom’ Living in Madrid: ‘They Deserve That’
Hannah SacksMon, November 9, 2026 at 5:19 PM UTC
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Javier Bardem and Penélope CruzCredit: Stephane Cardinale - Corbis/Corbis via Getty -
Penélope Cruz shares why living in Madrid has given her family more “freedom” in a new interview
Cruz explains that not only does it give her family more privacy, but they also live closer to family and friends
The actress shares Leo, 15, and Luna, 12, with husband Javier Bardem
Penélope Cruz is opening up about why she and husband Javier Bardem are choosing to raise their kids in Madrid.
The actress, 52, spoke with The Perfect Magazine in an interview published on Nov. 5 and explained that the famous couple is raising their kids — son Leo, 15, and daughter Luna, 12 — in Spain because it’s “easier” to stay out of the public eye.
“All our families are there, and the friends from childhood and from our teenage years; it’s easier to have a normal life, you know?” said Cruz.
Javier Bardem and Penélope CruzCredit: Stephane Cardinale - Corbis/Corbis via Getty
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“You have to make an effort to keep a part of your life private,” she explained. “But I think when you have children, it’s really important.”
“And they deserve that, they completely deserve that. Later they can decide what they want to do in terms of their work and everything. But they need to have that freedom and not be exposed to things when they are little.”
Back in July, Cruz told PEOPLE that her two kids “finally” think she’s cool after she met Bad Bunny for the first time. The actress spoke aboout meeting the DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS artist while chatting with Sean Evans on Hot Ones on July 2.
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She shared that the family went to the opening of Bad Bunny’s residency in his native Puerto Rico, and has since been to five shows on his current international tour.
Pelélope Cruz and Javier BardemCredit: Vivien Killilea/Getty
“But the first one in Puerto Rico is when Benito came to me and asked me to go with him to say the ‘Acho, PR es otra cosa,’” Cruz said of the opening line of the musician’s song “VOY A LLeVARTE PA PR.”
“And finally my kids came to me and said, ‘Mom, finally you we can say you are cool,’ ” Cruz added as Evans laughed.
“Thank you, Benito! It took me all these years,” she joked.
Cruz and Bardem, 57, tied the knot in 2010. Although the two tend to keep their family life private, the actress has previously opened up about the couple’s parenting style.
“It’s so easy to be manipulated, especially if you have a brain that is still forming,” she told Elle in 2024 of why her kids do not have cell phones.
“And who pays the price? Not us, not our generation, who, maybe at 25, learned how a BlackBerry worked,” Cruz continued at the time. “It’s a cruel experiment on children, on teenagers.”
on People
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
