Lourdes Montes, the fashion designer married to retired Spanish bullfighter Francisco "Fran" Rivera, has shared photographs on social media showing their two sons playing with bullfighting capes and muletas at the family's summer estate near Ronda, in the Spanish province of Málaga.
The images show Curro, 7, and Nicolás, 18 months, trying their hand with capes that once belonged to their father, their uncle, their grandfather and their great-grandfather. Montes said the children handled the tools with notable skill and even talked about facing a bull one day, something that frightens both of their parents.
Rivera is currently preparing for the Corrida Goyesca, a bullfighting event held in Ronda that is scheduled for 5 September, while spending the summer with his family at El Recreo de San Cayetano, an estate belonging to the Ordóñez family, his mother's side of the family.
A cape with history
One of the capes the children were photographed with bears the name "Paquirri," the nickname of Rivera's father, the bullfighter Francisco Rivera Pérez, who was gored to death in the ring in 1984. The children played with it in a corner of the estate where part of a well holds the ashes of the American filmmaker Orson Welles.
Welles was a close friend of Antonio Ordóñez, Fran Rivera's grandfather and a celebrated Spanish bullfighter. In 1987, Welles's daughter, Beatrice, arranged for his ashes to be kept at a spot on the estate where he had spent particularly happy times and about which he often spoke fondly. The same corner is now the backdrop for a new generation of family memories.
Freedom at the family estate
At the Ronda property, Curro and Nicolás have more freedom to move around than they would elsewhere, able to come and go from the house within the safety of the grounds. Lourdes Montes values this freedom and allows the boys to play there, though she keeps an eye on them.
That freedom has let the children get closer to their father's profession, showing off their skill with the cape and the muleta, even if for now it remains only a game for them rather than anything approaching a career choice.
Fran Rivera hopes they choose another path
Despite the playful images, both Fran Rivera and Lourdes Montes hope their sons will not end up devoting their lives to bullfighting. In an interview with the magazine Hola, Rivera said he would not like his children to give themselves over to that world, describing it as a beautiful profession but also the hardest and most demanding one. He said he would not want to see his son risk his life in front of a bull, and that he would prefer his children to be knowledgeable and respectful fans of bullfighting who pursue a different career.
He added, however, that if it came to that, he would help them.
According to the report, Curro's poses with the cape already show technique that appears to have been learned, suggesting his father may have already lent a hand. Nicolás, meanwhile, is said to spend his time trying to copy the antics of his older brother.
