Beatriz de Lenclós

By the early 1940s, Ledesma was working on Madrid stages and rose during the decade to the rank of first vedette in Spain's revista companies.^[1] She also made a screen appearance in 1943 linked to director José Buchs and the feature Un caballero famoso.^[3] A recording held by the Biblioteca Nacional de España documents her work as a singer around mid-century pairing her name with vocalist Jorge Sepúlveda on the Columbia release Risa y llanto and Sufrir dated circa 1950.^[4]

During the 1950s, Ledesma became part of Benidorm's beach and stage milieu and eventually settled in the city.^[2] In photographs taken on Levante Beach in 1955, she wore a bikini at a time when the two-piece swimsuit was still subject to official scrutiny elsewhere in Spain.^[2] The episode became part of local memory surrounding Benidorm's early tourism development. In 2018, the city commemorated the sixty-fifth anniversary of the garment’s authorization on its beaches with a gala explicitly recognizing Ledesma as the first Spanish actress photographed in a bikini and honoring her as a resident.^[2][5] Later historical analysis has cited Benidorm's 1950s experience, under mayor Pedro Zaragoza, as a key context for the bikini's introduction to Spain.^[6]

In later life, she returned to Vitoria Gasteiz as guest of honor at the Teatro Principal centenary gala in December 2018.^[7] She died in Altea on 5 January 2026, at the age of 102.^[3][8]