Ernest Hemingway and his crazy birthday party in Malaga

Sunday 21 July marks 125 years since the birth of the renowned American writer who had a fondness for bullfighting, the city and Ronda

Alekk M. Saanders

Malaga

Friday, 19 July 2024 | Updated 20/07/2024 23:03h.

Ernest Miller Hemingway was born on 21 July 1899 in Oak Park, an affluent suburb west of Chicago. His parents were well educated: his father was a doctor and his mother was a musician. When Hemingway discovered Spain in 1923, it became his second home, a place he loved to return to.

Ronda and Malaga are both places where the Nobel Prize winner felt at home. There is a well-preserved photograph from 1959 showing Ernest Hemingway attending a bullfight at the Malagueta bullring. It is known that the American adored bullfighting and became friends with the bullfighters, including Ronda's famous son Antonio Ordóñez.

Ernest Hemingway first came to Malaga in 1959 as a journalist to describe the rivalry between two outstanding Spanish matadors - his friend Antonio Ordóñez and Luis Miguel Dominguín (also world famous for his love affairs with Ava Gardner and Rita Hayworth). The rivalry between the two men had already been described by Hemingway in the book "The Dangerous Summer".

On the Costa del Sol, Ernest Hemingway stayed at La Cónsula, an old 19th century mansion once belonging to a diplomat of Prussia but which at the time was the property of Bill Davis and his wife. The Californian couple with whom Hemingway had been in contact in Mexico invited the famous compatriot to stay with them during his trip to the Costa del Sol.

Hemingway's 60th birthday celebrations were held in Churriana. On 21 July 1959, people from all over the world came to this village near Malaga to take part in the celebration. Among the guests were many famous bullfighters.

It is reported that carnival booths were set up and for entertainment a live orchestra was invited. Food was delivered from London and champagne was ordered from France. Some recollections mention that there was a lot of alcohol availabale which allowed those present to become intoxicated. Allegedly, a donkey was used by the guests to demonstrate their dressage skills. It is also said that Hemingway tested his marksmanship in the company of Ordóñez, who held a cigarette, which the writer tried to shoot out of his hand.

The party is said to have ended with a fireworks display that lit up the sky over Churriana and also set fire to a palm leading to the fire brigade being called to put out the blaze. The party was a great success and, according to various accounts, the event was somewhat wild. In any case, the locals remember it as the craziest thing that ever happened in the village.

Four days after Hemingway’s next birthday, which was spent packing rather than celebrating, on 25 July 1960, the couple left Cuba for good. The following year, their 'finca' La Vigía was expropriated by the Cuban government along with Hemingway's collection of some 5,000 books. The following year, on 2 July, 1961, the writer was found dead of a shotgun wound to the head at his home in Idaho. His wife said at the time that the gun must have gone off accidentally when he was cleaning it.

Top 50

Esta funcionalidad es exclusiva para registrados.

Reporta un error en esta noticia