From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. María del Pilar Peña Sánchez, (Candela Peña) (born 14 July 1973 in Gavà, Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain) is a Spanish actress. She was the only child of a couple who had a bar in Barcelona. When she was four years old she started to learn dance in the city and after finishing high-school she went to Seville to begin theatre classes there and eventually in Madrid. Encouraged by Pedro Almodóvar, she published the novel Pérez Príncipe, María Dolores in 2001.