Born in Malaga, Spain, Franquelo moved to Madrid to attend classes in drawing and painting at the Academia Artium Peña in 1972. In 1977 he began his studies at the Escuela Superior de Bellas Artes de San Fernando in Madrid. In 1983 he was awarded a scholarship granted by the Ministry of Culture in Madrid. Franquelo is widely regarded as one of the most important Spanish photo-realist artists. He is also one of the founders of Factum Arte, a workshop and research center that designs and develops new equipment and software that are used by a myriad of creative industries both for the conservation of cultural heritage and for contemporary art. Franquelo has been the recipient of numerous awards and grants including: the Etching National Prize at the San Fernando Academy of Fine Arts, Madrid; Penago Drawing Award and the Eusebio Sempere Drawing Award, Alicante, Spain; Antonio del Rincón National Drawing Award, Guadalajara, Spain; and the National Drawing Award at the Autumn Biennal of Art, Madrid. Franquelo's work is included in an array of prestigious collections, such as: Museo de Arte Contemporáneo de Madrid, Spain; Museo Electrográfico de Cuenca, Spain; The Nagasaki Prefectural Art Museum, Nagasaki, Japan; Fundación BBVA, Madrid, Spain; The Royal Photographic Society, Bath, U.K.