Leopoldo Enrique García-Alas y Ureña (25 April 1852 – 13 June 1901), also known as Clarín, was a renowned Spanish realist novelist born in Zamora. His inflammatory articles, known as paliques ("chitchat"), as well as his advocacy of liberalism and anti-clericalism, made him a formidable and controversial critical voice. Alas spent his childhood living in León and Guadalajara, before moving to Oviedo in 1863. There, he studied for his Bachillerato (B.A. degree) and commenced his law studies.

In 1871, he moved to Madrid, where he began his career as a journalist, adopting the pen-name "Clarín" in 1875. In 1878, he graduated with the thesis El Derecho y la Moralidad (Law and Morality). He taught in Zaragoza from 1882 to 1883, and in 1883, he returned to Oviedo to take up a position as professor of Roman law.

Above all, Clarín is celebrated as the author of La Regenta, his masterpiece and one of the most significant novels of the 19th century.