THE story of Ronda’s deep connection to Hollywood begins with a local legend: Cayetano Ordoñez (‘El Niño de la Palma’).
Born into poverty, the gypsy bullfighter earned his nickname because his cobbler father used a large palm frond (La Palma) as a clever sign for his shop, serving an illiterate clientele a hundred years ago. When Cayetano achieved fame, he bought the finca, ‘El Recreo’, just outside Ronda.
‘El Recreo’ was eventually passed down to his son, the great matador Antonio Ordoñez. Antonio was close friends with Ernest Hemingway and, later, the cinematic giant Orson Welles. Both Americans were massive fans of the bulls and became frequent, honoured guests at the finca, which has remained in Ordoñez hands ever since.
Welles, the colossal talent who conquered Broadway and, at 25, wrote, directed, and starred in Citizen Kane (a film still widely considered the greatest ever made), was instantly drawn to the deep cultural traditions of Europe. By the 1950s and ’60s, Hollywood had disillusioned him. He was a man in constant battle with studios, critics, and his own failing health, carrying his immense bulk with difficulty. Spain became his sanctuary.
Though he was a social lion across the world, Ronda offered him a quiet refuge. At El Recreo, he found genuine respite, eating, drinking, and laughing with the Ordoñez family away from the pressures of the American film industry.
Spain, with its long dinners and steadfast traditions, offered him respect without judgement, a kind of chosen family.
When Welles died suddenly in 1985, his handwritten wish was found: he wanted to be cremated and have his ashes sprinkled in the finca’s well in his beloved Ronda.
The wish was carried out. To this day, the well at El Recreo remains known as the ‘Pozo Orson Welles’. This brilliant, complex figure, who had conquered cinema and caused a panic with The War of the Worlds, chose to rest eternally in little Ronda, finding his final peace among sun-kissed evenings in the heart of the Serranía.
Click here to read more Travel News from The Olive Press.
