Cristina Ortiz Rodríguez

La Veneno was born in Adra, Almería, the daughter of José María Ortiz López (1930–2020) and María Jesús Rodríguez Rivera (born 1932). She noted from an early age that she was different from other children, and in her adolescence she realised that she was in fact transgender. She suffered aggression and abuse from people in her hometown and from her own family, who did not accept her gender identity nor her homosexuality. At age thirteen she moved with one of her sisters to San Pedro de Alcántara, near Marbella with the Romero family after her parents kicked her out of their house. There she worked as a farmer and a shop assistant as well as a hairdresser and a model. In 1989 she won the contest for Míster Andalucía. She was illiterate.

In 1991 she left Marbella for Spain's capital city, Madrid, where she worked as a hospital chef. That same year she appeared in the date television show "Vivan los Novios", which she won. The prize was a voyage to Bangkok alongside Charo, the partner she found on the show. There, in Thailand, she attended a drag queen show where she realized that she was transgender. Thus, in 1992, she started her process of transition. After being fired from her job at the hospital she worked as a prostitute in the Parque del Oeste in Madrid to pay her bills. There she was discovered in April 1996 by reporter Faela Saiz, who interviewed her for a TV feature on prostitution for the late-night show Esta Noche Cruzamos el Mississippi on Telecinco. The interview, showcasing La Veneno's outrageous humour, was a hit. The show's host, Pepe Navarro, subsequently invited her to become a regular contributor. Her rise to fame was almost immediate, and she helped the programme reach viewing figures of almost eight million. The show ended in July 1997 after political conflicts surrounding the Alcàsser Girls crime and moved to Antena 3 under the name La Sonrisa del Pelícano. El Pelícano ended in December 1997 after three months of broadcasting after numerous rumours that a sex tape starring journalist and entrepreneur Pedro J. Ramírez would be aired on television.

In 1996, La Veneno recorded two singles, Veneno Pa' Tu piel and El Rap de La Veneno, with the first one being gold-certified for selling over 50,000 copies, and her career as a vedette and a television personality took off. During the decade she toured Spain, performing in galas and making personal appearances at nightclubs and festivals. She also modeled for designers like Pepe Rubio and Antonio Alvarado. When La Sonrisa del Pelícano ended, she spent a month doing TV work in Buenos Aires, before returning to Spain and participating in other programmes for Telemadrid and Antena 3, among other channels. She also took part in two pornographic films, El Secreto de La Veneno and La Venganza de La Veneno. She also acted in six episodes of the series En Plena Forma, starring Alfredo Landa.

In April 2003, Cristina was implicated in a case of arson and insurance fraud, and she was reported to the police by her then-boyfriend Andrea Petruzzelli. She was accused of intentionally setting fire to her flat in order to claim the insurance money. She was found guilty, and sentenced to three years in prison at the Centro Penitenciario Madrid VI in Aranjuez. She was sent to an all-male prison as she hadn't changed her name to Cristina nor her gender in her identity papers. She claimed that her parents didn't even know that she had entered prison until she rang them after being sent to the Gregorio Marañón Hospital due to health issues in 2004.

Upon leaving prison, in 2006, she moved to Valencia with friend Paca la Piraña. That same year Cristina told the media that she had been raped and abused by the prison guards. This was disputed by the Spanish prison authorities. She openly spoke about her weight gain in prison as she reached 120kg during her time in prison, and she was invited onto several television programmes, marking an apparent recovery of her career. In October 2010, the sensationalist Spanish TV show ¿Dónde Estás Corazón? challenged La Veneno to lose all the weight she had put on. By March 2011, La Veneno had lost 35kg. It was subsequently revealed that she had been suffering from bulimia and severe depression, as well as suffering deep anxiety.

On 10 May 2013, La Veneno appeared on Sálvame Deluxe on Telecinco to tease her upcoming memoir Ni Puta, Ni Santa (Las Memorias de La Veneno) which was delayed until 2016. In August, she revealed that her ex-boyfriend had fled with all her savings, over 60,000 euros, and she was living on just €300 a month in benefits. In 2014 she was sent back to prison, this time a female prison, for eight months.

On 3 October 2016, she finally launched her long-awaited memoir, co-written with the help of her friend, journalist and writer Valeria Vegas.

On 5 November 2016, Cristina had been found semi-conscious in her house, covered with bruises and with a deep wound to the head, which caused a traumatic brain injury. She was found there by her boyfriend, and there were bloodstains in her bathroom. She was taken by ambulance to the Hospital Universitario La Paz, where she was placed in an induced coma as a preventative measure. She remained in intensive care. Cristina died four days later, on 9 November 2016. The post mortem determined that the cause of death was an accidental fall. She had apparently taken a very large dose of Xanax tablets and alcohol. A second post mortem reached the same verdict.

While she was hospitalised in the ICU, people close to La Veneno speculated that the death was not accidental, because she received death threats after the publication of her autobiography, which talked about affairs she had with powerful people. Her ashes were scattered half in the Parque del Oeste, and half in her hometown of Adra. In April 2019, a plaque was unveiled to honour her in the Parque del Oeste. A week later, the plaque was stolen. In October 2020, the City Council of Madrid announced that the plaque would be replaced after many popular petitions were submitted.