Joaquín grew up in a big family, with eight brothers and sisters in total. As the third child, he had two older brothers. Three of the eight children in this family are or have been engaged in football. Besides Joaquín, elder brother Lucas played for Cádiz CF, while Ricardo also played in Betis’ youth ranks.
It was Joaquín’s uncle, called “El Chino”, who firmly believed in Joaquín’s talent and afforded the daily round trip between Cádiz and Seville when the youngster was in Betis’ youth system – he died in 2002. Ever since then, Joaquín dedicated most of his achievements to him and always remembered him as his mentor. Growing up, he wanted to be a bullfighter, and was breastfed until the age of 7.

After the 2005 domestic cup conquest Joaquín married Susana on 8 July, with the trophy present as a distinguished witness as the entire Betis squad attended the wedding ceremony.