Luis Martínez Fraile was born in Albacete, Spain (February 7th, 1947), inside a humble working class family.  His father was a master builder and former political prisoner after the Spanish Civil War, and his mother was a factory worker and selfless housewife whose surname, from Sephardic origin, he would choose to sign his artworks. During his childhood he combined studies with several night jobs, amongst others as an employee in the mythical Casino Primitivo of the city, where he met different situations, social behaviors and motley characters, adquiring a vital experience and maturity that helped him to forge a very early critical and sarcastic view of the Franco's Spanish society and customs, reflected in most of his artworks. 

          He was a self-taught person and, at the age of 20, his interest in Arts and Architecture led him to pursue studies with which he achieved a position as Draftsman and Urban Planning Designer at the City Hall of his hometown. He worked for the Cadastre and with the renowned architect Julio Carrilero Prat, designing amongst others, the Nautical Club of Torrevieja. At this stage painting was just a hobby and he used to entertain himself by creating landscapes, portraits and still lifes. He moved to Barcelona afterwards, employed in an engineering consultancy company years before starting his professional path as a painter.