text: Background Emilio Estefan Gómez was born in Santiago de Cuba, Cuba to Emilio Estefan Sr. (1919–2003) and Carmen María Gómez (1921–2006). His father Emilio Estefan Sr. was born in Cuba to Syrian and Lebanese parents and was the second child in a family which consisted of eleven siblings—many of whom were textile traders that traveled throughout Cuba and the Caribbean. Emilio Sr. was raised by his widowed mother Júlia, as his father had died when he was still a child. Carmen's parents Antonio Gómez and Carmen Vasquez were Spanish immigrants who met while the latter was working for the Bacardi family.
  In 1967, at the age of fourteen, Estefan and his father Emilio Sr. fled Cuba for Spain to escape the Castro regime. The Estefan family planned to reunite in the United States and, as a result, Carmen chose to remain behind because she did not want to abandon her parents. In addition, Estefan's older brother José (b. 1945) was drafted into the military and could not leave Cuba until 1980. For about a year, Estefan and his father lived an impoverished life in Spain before relocating permanently to Miami, Florida. Although circumstances were far better in Miami, Estefan and Emilio Sr. still struggled as they lived in a cramped house with Estefan's aunt and 8 cousins. Estefan did not reunite with his mother until 1971 when she was finally able to immigrate to the United States.
  It was during his formative years that Estefan cultivated his musical sensibilities, as he had often used his accordion-playing skills to earn enough tips to support his father and family.
  Professional career