Born in Ávila, Castile and León, Sánchez Cabrera studied Political and Administrative Sciences at the Complutense University of Madrid and worked in a bank from 2007 to 2015.[1] In 2011, he was elected to the town council in Padiernos in the Province of Ávila, and into the Provincial Deputation. Four years later, he was installed as president of the deputation in a surprise move, as the designated candidate of the People's Party (PP) was Pablo Luis Gómez, a councillor in the provincial capital.[2]
In December 2018, Sánchez Cabrera announced that he would not be the PP candidate for mayor of Ávila in the coming elections.[2] The following March, two months before the vote, he was announced as the candidate for For Ávila (XAV), a local split from the PP.[3] A motion of no confidence was then passed successfully against him in the provincial deputation, and he was succeeded by his former ally Carlos García González.[4] In June, he was invested as mayor as his party took 11 out of 25 seats and the PP took 6; he ended 28 years of PP control in the city.[5] He retained the exact amount of seats in 2023, choosing to preside over a minority government in dialogue with all opposition parties.[6]