José Ortega Cano is one of the most remembered bullfighters on the Spanish scene. Performing in the country’s bullrings during the 80s and 90s, he earned the esteem of bullfighting fans and the country’s society in general. During his last years as a bullfighter, he became the protagonist of the covers and social gatherings after learning about his relationship with the singer Rocío Jurado, filling hours and hours of content.
At 70 years old and still a current protagonist, the Cartagena native has stopped by the set of And Now Sonsoles to review his long life and career, both inside and outside the arena. On May 11 and 18 he will return to the arenas, specifically those of Villanueva de la Fuente and La Lastrilla, but the issue that has most captivated the right-hander on the Sonsoles Ónega program has been being able to talk about his ex-partner.
Known as ‘The Greatest’, Rocío Jurado died on June 1, 2006 in her mansion in La Moraleja, in Alcobendas, due to pancreatic cancer. Ortega Cano and the singer were together for 12 years, and the bullfighter couldn’t help but get emotional during the interview, drawing applause from the audience present on the set. He himself has recognized that the woman born in Chipiona was the love of his life.
He defined her as the most wonderful woman he had ever known, who carried her deep inside him and who, furthermore, still saw her on certain occasions, almost as if she were alive. A situation that he practically defined as impossible but that he understood when he noticed it was very close. Sonsoles Ónega then remembered some statements in which Ortega Cano claimed to continue speaking with Rocío.
In his own words, he explained how much he and his closest loved ones remembered her, as well as how immeasurable she was as an artist on a national level. He also insisted on how lucky he had been to meet her. He himself acknowledged a year before starting to leave her, during an interview, that he was already in love with the artist. A romance that would keep them together for more than a decade.
On a personal level, his relationship with Ana María Aldón has been the most recent and controversial, to the point of having to respond to accusations of not complying with obligations regarding his son: “Everything is arranged and solved. I have never skimped on anything and we are working on it. The existing problem with the pending bank transfer was already solved.”
