Oscar-winning Spanish film stars Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem have had their first child, a healthy baby boy, according to a spokesman.

“Penelope and Javier welcomed their first son into their family last week. Both parents and baby are doing great,” said the spokesman for Ms Cruz, confirming Spanish press reports.

Ms Cruz gave birth at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Centre in Beverly Hills on Saturday, according to the latest edition of the Spanish celebrity magazine Hola!

It published pictures of a beaming Bardem and family members of Ms Cruz at the centre, the hospital of choice for Hollywood stars. But it gave no details on the boy’s name or his birth weight.

The spokesman said Ms Cruz and Mr Bardem had so far refused to comment on the Spanish press reports since they emerged.

The birth came just three days before Mr Bardem received his third Academy Award nomination, for his performance in the film Biutiful by Mexican director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu.

Ms Cruz, 36, and Mr Bardem, 41, met when they starred opposite each other as lusty teens in the Spanish film Jamon, Jamon, back in 1992.

In 2008, they were back together on the silver screen in Woody Allen’s Vicky Cristina Barcelona, for which Ms Cruz won an Academy Award as best supporting actress.

The couple married in July last year at a ceremony in the Bahamas.

Mr Bardem, also nominated for an Oscar in Before Night Falls (2000), won an Academy Award in 2007 for his role in No Country for Old Men.

Spain’s leading daily, El Pais, quoted a family source as saying “the couple want to have as much privacy as possible.”

“Friends of Mr Bardem began to suspect (the baby was born) when the actor did not respond to any calls to congratulate him on his (Oscar) nomination,” it added.