Juan Ponce de Leon (Spanish pronunciation: ['xwan 'ponthe de le'on]; 1474 - July 1521) was a Spanish explorer and conquistador born in Santervas de Campos, Valladolid, Spain in 1474. Though little is known about his family, he was of noble birth and served in the Spanish military from a young age. He first came to the Americas as a "gentlemen volunteer" with Christopher Columbus's second expedition in 1493. By the early 1500s, Ponce de Leon was a top military official in the colonial government of Hispaniola, where he helped crush a rebellion of the native Taino people.
Spain
Juan Ponce de Leon was born in the village of Santervas de Campos in the northern part of what is now the Spanish province of Valladolid. Although early historians placed his birth in 1460, and this date has been used traditionally, more recent evidence shows he was likely born in 1474. The surname Ponce de Leon dates from the 13th century. The Ponce de Leon lineage began with Ponce Velaz de Cabrera, descendant of count Bermudo Nunez, and Sancha Ponce de Cabrera, daughter of Ponce Giraldo de Cabrera. Before October 1235, a son of Ponce Vela de Cabrera and his wife Teresa Rodriguez Giron named Pedro Ponce de Cabrera married Aldonza Alfonso, an illegitimate daughter of King Alfonso IX of Leon. The descendants of this marriage added the "de Leon" to their patronymic and were known henceforth as the Ponce de Leon.  The identity of his parents is still unknown, but he appears to have been a member of a distinguished and influential noble family. His relatives included Rodrigo Ponce de Leon, Marquis of Cadiz, a celebrated figure in the Moorish wars.  Ponce de Leon was related to another notable family, the Nunez de Guzmans, and as a young man he served as squire to Pedro Nunez de Guzman, Knight Commander of the Order of Calatrava. A contemporary chronicler, Gonzalo Fernandez de Oviedo y Valdes, states that Ponce de Leon gained his experience as a soldier fighting in the Spanish campaigns that defeated the Moors in Granada and completed the re-conquest of Spain in 1492.

Q: what did he have to do with spain?
A: Juan Ponce de Leon was born in the village of Santervas de Campos in the northern part of what is now the Spanish province of Valladolid.
who were his parents?
The identity of his parents is still unknown, but he appears to have been a member of a distinguished and influential noble family.
The identity of his parents is still unknown, but he appears to have been a member of a distinguished and influential noble family.