The Ordonez Brothers--Son's of the Great Paquirri

There is a new generation of matadors in Spain who bring more excitement and more spectators into the bull ring than there's been for some time. High on this list are two brothers, Francisco Rivera Ordonez and his kid brother Cayetano.

Last October, 60 Minutes correspondent Bob Simon reported on their exploits inside and outside the ring and there's an update: the Spanish government recently awarded Francisco, the older brother, with the Fine Arts medal - the highest honor any artist can receive.

It led to front page news and to a national scandal. Two previous winners of the award returned their medals in disgust, insisting that Francisco didn't deserve it. His brother Cayetano believes he certainly does deserve it, and after watching and reading this story, you'll understand why.

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Francisco Rivera Ordoñez has been fighting for 13 years. In fact, while 60 Minutes was Spain in Spain filming, he fought his 1000th fight. And the crowds couldn’t get enough of him.

Cayetano, his kid brother, has to fight off the crowds. People beg to be touched by their icon. He has been fighting only three years, and although he is still a rookie, he's worshipped all over Spain. He is one of the highest paid matadors in the country.

In fact, the brothers are the two most eligible bachelors in Spain. They each fight around 60 times during the season, and occasionally fight on the same day in the same place.

"When you and Cayetano enter the bull ring together, the crowd goes crazy," Simon remarks.

Referring to Cayetano, Francisco jokes, "More for him, now, 'cause he's younger, he's taller."

Francisco and Cayetano are in different stages of their careers: Cayetano is still blossoming, while Francisco is beginning to think of retirement. The brothers don't like to fight together. They're terrified when the other is in the ring; something awful can happen.

And there's something else: "Of course, there's the competition,” Cayetano tells Simon. “And I'm very happy when he's success…"

"As long as you succeed, too," Simon remarks.

“[As long as I succeed] more," Cayetano says.

It's not just fraternal rivalry that prods them onwards. They are both competing against ghosts.

Their grandfather, Antonio, was the greatest matador of the last 50 years. Hemingway, Orson Welles, Rita Hayworth, Grace Kelly all came to pay homage to the maestro. The boys' father was Paquirri, a legendary matador of his time.


Bulls were the family business, and the family tragedy. In 1984, Paquirri was badly gored in a minor ring somewhere in central Spain. He died a few hours later. His widow, the boys' mother, did everything possible to lure them away from the ring. She sent them both to summer camp in Maine; she also sent Francisco to a military academy in Indiana.

It didn't work. Francisco returned to Spain and went straight for the bulls. "There's no way out," Francisco explains, "We have it in blood."

"I'm sure that I [was] born to be in a ring," he adds.

And, Francisco says when the time comes, he wants to die in the ring. Before every fight, he unpacks a suitcase which carries a portable chapel. He prays to his patron saints and to the Virgin Mary.

He says he is still frightened before a fight. "I think to have fear is good…. Because if you don't have fear, then you can't be a brave man."

Cayetano didn't want to be a brave man. He was happy in Santa Monica, Calif., where he planned to be a TV producer, and was having a good time. But then he went back to Spain.

"Practically all my family has been bullfighters. So I always had that curiosity in my mind. But I never had the strength, perhaps, to take the final decision," Cayetano explains.

He later found the strength and courage to give it a try. But age wasn't on his side: he was by then 27, which is very old to start training to become a matador. His friends and family thought he was crazy.

Cayetano says his brother wasn't very happy with the idea of his brother fighting bulls. "It's not something you would like for someone you love."

But Cayetano loved the idea of becoming a matador. A film made at the time shows how Cayetano left his world behind and retreated to a ranch. He spent more time with bulls than with people. It was a monastic existence. He learned about the cape, and he learned about the kill.

Asked what it was like the first time he fought a bull, Cayetano tells Simon, "It was scary. I saw it so big, and I thought, 'Oh my God, am I prepared for this? Isn't it too early maybe? Shouldn't I fight the smaller one first?'"

That was three years ago. He's fought a couple of hundred of fights since then.

Before a fight, he relaxes with his Mac and his music.