Cayetano Ordóñez y Aguilera (El Niño de la Palma) - Ronda, Spain
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Bronze statue of Cayetano Ordóñez a Spanish matador and the patriarch of the Ordóñez family of bullfighters, called “El Niño de la Palma,” in front of Plaza de Toros de Ronda, a famous Bullring in Ronda.
Waymark Code: WM159HN
Location: Andalucía, Spain
Date Posted: 11/15/2021
Views: 2
The life-size, bronze statue of Cayetano Ordoñez Aguilera, known as El Niño de la Palma, is right next to the Plaza de Toros de Ronda, specifically at the Puerta del Picadero de la Real Maestranza de Caballería and next to the statue of his son, another one of the most illustrious Ronda bullfighters known as such as Antonio Ordoñez Araujo. Cayetano Ordoñez is depicted here wearing traditional clothing that Spanish wear in the bullring.
Both sculptures were inaugurated on September 7, 1996 by his own son and honoree Antonio Ordoñez, accompanied by his grandson Francisco Rivera Ordoñez.
Cayetano Ordoñez was born in Ronda on January 4, 1904 and died in Madrid on September 28, 1961. His parents owned a shoeshop called La Palma, which gave him his nickname (Niño de la Palma). In 1917 he first began to perform as a bullfighter in the ranches of the area where he lived. In 1923 he had his debut in Ronda, where he became the first bullfighter to be carried in triumph through the main gates of the Maestranza, and in 1924 he caused great commotion again when the same thing happened in Seville. From that point on he was greatly in demand by all the professional and amateur rings in Spain. He was used by Ernest Hemingway as the model for "Pedro Romero", the talented young bullfighter in The Sun Also Rises. Hemingway later stated that "everything that happened in the ring was true, and everything outside was fiction. Nino knew this and never complained about it."
His last bullfight was at Aranda de Duero in 1942. He was the director of the Lisbon School of Bullfighting and died in Madrid on 30 October 1961.
His sons mainly became bullfighters, Antonio Ordóñez becoming one of the most important in post-Civil War Spain and subject of Hemingway's book The Dangerous Summer. His great grandsons, Francisco and Cayetano Rivera Ordóñez are famous matadors still working in Spain today.
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