Pedro Sánchez Pérez-Castejón was born in 1972 in
Madrid to well-off parents, Pedro Sánchez Fernández and Magdalena Pérez-Castejón.
[5][6] His father was a public administrator who spent most of his career at the Ministry of Culture's
Instituto Nacional de las Artes Escénicas y de la Música (lit. 'National Institute of the Performing Arts and Music'). He later became the owner of an industrial packing company. His mother also worked as a civil servant, in the
social security system, and later studied to become a lawyer, ultimately graduating alongside her son at the same university.
[5][7] Raised in the
Tetuán district, he went on to study at the Colegio Santa Cristina.
[8][9] According to Sánchez himself, he frequented
breakdancing circles in
AZCA when he was a teenager.
[10][11] He moved from the Colegio Santa Cristina to the Instituto Ramiro de Maeztu, a public high school where he played basketball in the
Estudiantes youth system, with links to the high school, reaching the U-21 team.
[9][12] As a teenager, Sánchez spent time in
Dublin to learn English.
[13]In 1993, Sánchez first joined the PSOE, following the victory of
Felipe González in that year's
general election.
[14] He earned a
licentiate degree from the
Real Colegio Universitario María Cristina, attached to the
Complutense University of Madrid, in 1995.
[15] Following his graduation, he moved to New York City to work for a global consulting firm.
[16]In 1998, Sánchez moved to
Brussels to work for the PSOE's delegation to the
European Parliament, including as an assistant to the
MEP Bárbara Dührkop.
[17] He also spent time working in the staff of the United Nations
High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina,
Carlos Westendorp.
[18] Combining studies with his employment, he earned a second degree, in Politics and Economics, in 1998, graduating from the
Université libre de Bruxelles. He also earned a degree in business leadership from
IESE Business School in the
University of Navarra, a private university and apostolate of the
Opus Dei, and a diploma in Advanced Studies in EU Monetary Integration from the Instituto Ortega y Gasset in 2002.
[19][20] In 2012, Sánchez received his Doctorate in Economics from the
Universidad Camilo José Cela, where he lectured in economics.
[21]