Sonsoles Ónega

Sonsoles Ónega is a Spanish journalist and novelist born in 1977 in Madrid. She is one of Spain's most prominent television journalists, best known as presenter of the afternoon news program Ya es mediodía on Antena 3. Her journalism career and her public profile have helped her reach an enormous readership for her fiction. Ónega published her debut novel El mapa del amor in 2012 and has gone on to publish several works of historical fiction. Her novels typically engage with Spanish history and with the experiences of women at key historical moments. She received the Premio Planeta in 2023 for Las hijas de la criada (The Maid's Daughters). Las hijas de la criada is a historical novel set in early 20th-century Spain, following the daughters of a servant woman who navigate the social constraints and opportunities of their era. The novel was praised for its emotional engagement, its historical research, and its examination of class and gender in Spanish society. Ónega is a significant figure in Spanish popular literary culture, combining media celebrity with genuine literary ambition.