Ana Torroja Fungairiño, 3rd Marchioness of Torroja (born 28 December 1959 in Madrid), is a Spanish singer. She was the lead singer of the pop trio Mecano, considered one of the most popular pop bands from Spain during the 1980s and 1990s. Mecano split in 1998 and she embarked on a solo career. Biography Formally styled Marquesa de Torroja, she succeeded to the title upon her father's death in 2021. Ana Torroja met José María Cano while studying economics at university. The two became good friends, and José María soon introduced her to his younger brother, Nacho. After hearing Ana sing José María's guitar compositions, Nacho suggested that the three form a band. In 1981, at 22 years old she became the vocalist of Mecano. After seven Mecano albums and huge success in Europe and Latin America, the continuous touring began taking its toll on the band. Ana was especially affected and started developing vocal problems. In an interview the artist recalls: “I am a person, even if it may not seem so, very shy and I am also a very reserved person with my other part, with my other half, with Ana just. So, being so exposed made me feel very vulnerable and that vulnerability became almost, almost agoraphobia, it didn't really become agoraphobia. but I say it like this to explain a little what I felt, it scared me, I didn't want to go outside because it couldn't be me, because people immediately screamed, they went crazy, they wanted to touch you , they wanted to hug you, they wanted to hear from you, I felt like... how to explain it... like some kind of freak, and I didn't like that feeling.” In 1993, the band announced a temporary split. While José and Nacho released solo albums, Ana chose to travel around the world and visited Hawaii, Mumbai, and New York City—places she had sung about while with Mecano. She eventually settled in New York and took dance classes. By 1997, Ana felt confident enough to sing again and moved to London to record her first solo album, Puntos Cardinales (Cardinal points). The album, produced by Tony Mansfield, marked a curious change for Ana. Because her new songs were not written from a male point of view—unlike the Mecano hits written by the Cano brothers—she felt that she could express herself as a woman for the first time.