Alba Flores

Alba González Villa, known professionally as Alba Flores, is a Spanish actress born on October 27, 1986. She achieved prominent fame for her portrayal of Saray Vargas in the prison crime drama series Vis a Vis and her role as Nairobi in the internationally acclaimed heist series Money Heist. She is of Romani heritage and belongs to a well-known family of Spanish performers.

Flores was born to theatrical producer Ana Villa and musician Antonio Flores, who wrote a song titled after her before passing away when she was nine years old. She comes from an artistic lineage as the granddaughter of performer Lola Flores and guitarist Antonio González, the niece of singers Lolita and Rosario Flores, and the cousin of actress Elena Furiase. At age 13, she began studying dramatic interpretation alongside training in piano performance. Her early stage work included roles in the 2005 play Luna de miel en Hiroshima and a 2007 Romani adaptation of A Midsummer Night's Dream.

She made her feature film debut in the 2005 movie El calentito and secured her first television role in an episode of El comisario in 2006. In 2008, she acted in the series The Ulysses Syndrome and performed in the musical Enamorados anónimos. The following year, she recorded her father's song "No Puedo Enamorarme de Ti" for a film soundtrack. She further trained at the Corazza Acting Studio, appearing in their 2011 production Comedia Y Sueno. She subsequently played Jamila in El tiempo entre costuras in 2013, acted in the television film Vicente Ferrer, and appeared in Cuéntame.

Her major breakthrough arrived when she was cast as inmate Saray Vargas de Jesús in the prison drama series Vis a Vis, running from 2015 to 2019. Her performance gained critical acclaim and earned her a joint Ondas Award alongside her ensemble cast, as well as a Spanish Actors Union Award for Best Supporting Actress. The series was later picked up globally by Netflix and led to a special guest appearance for Flores in the 2020 spinoff Vis a vis: El Oasis. During this era, she performed in stage productions of La Rosa Tatuada in 2016 and Troyanas in 2017.

Flores earned worldwide recognition when producer Álex Pina wrote the role of Nairobi specifically for her in the heist drama Money Heist (La Casa de Papel). Portraying an expert in counterfeiting and forgery, her character was central to the series as it became a massive global hit on Netflix. Her performance brought her widespread praise and earned her an Iris Award for Best Actress.

In addition to her major television roles, Flores co-starred in the 2017 musical play Drac Pack, narrated the Spanish release of the 2020 nature documentary Night on Earth, and earned a Fotogramas de Plata nomination for her performance in the 2021 play La excepción y la regla. Off screen, Flores maintains a vegetarian lifestyle, has campaigned for PETA, and joined international feminists in signing an anti-war manifesto in March 2022.