Known as the Wise Boy of Camas, the bullfighter Paco Camino left a notable legacy in his profession, although perhaps he was not as media-friendly as Manuel Benítez El Cordobés or the late Francisco Rivera, Paquirri. Like him, his son Rafa Camino also dedicated himself to the world of bullfighting while making numerous front pages and social media headlines. Paco Camino was 83 years old, he was at his Los Caminos estate, in Arenas de San Pedro, where he lived in recent years, and was transferred to a hospital in Navalmoral de la Mata, where he died, according to the magazine Aplausos.
The bullfighter had dedicated himself in recent years to breeding
cattle of Marquis de Domecq and Santa Coloma originand he led a placid life, once he had overcome the delicate health problem that he had to overcome in 2005 when he underwent a liver transplant, following hepatitis C diagnosed in 1980. Only his wife and his sister, Charo, knew about it, as he revealed to Abc: “It was so that they wouldn’t suffer, my mother is 89 years old and I couldn’t give her such a shock,” he said.
Beyond his great figure as a bullfighter, which led to more than 30 gorings, some of them so serious that he had to receive the last rites, we can highlight that he was also in the news for his hectic love life. An emotional history that never took the spotlight away from his profession, in which he stands out
The Charity Bullfight in Madrid in 1970where he fought six bulls and cut eight ears. A clear turning point in his career.
Paco Camino with his wife Maria Ángeles Sanz and their children Rafael, Marian and Francisco. / GTRES
As for love, we can say that the third time was the charm. His first wife was
Mexican Norma Gaonadaughter of the Mexico City bullring manager, Alfonso Gaona. They married in November 1963, but their marriage did not work out. She moved to Spain, but returned to her country two years later. They had a son, Francisco, who also tried to make his way in the world of bullfighting without much luck.
The premature death of his eldest son
Francisco Camino Gaona passed away in October 2023 in Mexico, where he continued to live. He was convalescing from intestinal cancer, but
the cause of his death It was a hospital virus. After declining a career in bullfighting, he graduated in Law, although he remained linked to this field until the end of his days through business and acting as a representative.
It was not the only very painful death that marked Paco Camino’s life, because, in addition to losing his parents, as is the law of life, he suffered the death of his brother Joaquín in 1973,
mortally wounded at the Monumental Barcelona. A bull named Curioso from the Atanasio Fernández ranch was responsible. The Catalan bullring fell silent after the bull’s attacks. He was unable to recover from his wounds and died two days later, on June 5. His remains rest in Camas.
Paco Camino, with his son Rafa. / GTRES
After his first failed marriage he tried a second time. This time he married an agricultural engineer
Maria de los Angeles Sanz. It was love at first sight, but the process to dissolve her first marriage took longer than expected. They were finally able to marry in the Church in 1973, after the birth of their three children. Rafael, known as Rafi Camino in his youth, was born in 1969, two years later his sister, Marián, and in 1973, Francisco Javier. The breakup occurred in 1989.
Isabel Sanchez-Flor,
seventeen years younger than himwas the third woman in his life. She was the daughter of an important textile businessman from Albacete and a long-time fan of his. They did not hide their affair and this accelerated their divorce proceedings. It was then that he definitively left what had been his marital home in the Salamanca district of Madrid to settle permanently on his estate in the Gredos Valley.
Paco Camino and Isabel Sánchez-Flor were married in Madrigal de la Vera in 1994. She was his great support in
the most delicate moments of health and in the aforementioned interview with Abc the bullfighter spoke of her with great affection: “Thank God I have been very lucky, she is a very good girl.” Paco Camino remains in the history of bullfighting, among greats such as Antonio Ordóñez and Luis Miguel Dominguín, the latter a conqueror like him.
