Childhood, his mother, DNA tests, bulls... This has been the years of El Cordobés without his father

• Finally "The photo of my life!": the long-awaited meeting between Manuel Díaz and Manuel Benítez 'El Cordobés' with a hug included

• Hugs Manuel Díaz, after reconciling with his father: "I am the happiest man on earth right now"

In one of those

pompous Madrid, an attractive young woman named

worked as a servant.

At one of the receptions for the gentlemen,

arrived , a close friend named

(86), the most media-ready bullfighter in

due to his way of fighting and his

that led him to star in several movies,

(1963) and

(1963).

Right away,

a pretty, blonde, light-eyed woman from Jaén born in 1947 who always tried to avoid those insinuations and flattery.

But there came a point where

to go to work as a waitress in a coffee shop.

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As Manuel Román explained in Libertad Digital, El Cordobés found out where she worked and

In a flash

they saw each other in the bullfighter's luxurious rented apartment on Doctor Esquerdo street and

That was embarrassing for the girl's parents who lived in Arganda, so

She lived in friends' apartments and in a rented room, until

born in 1968, home to take care of her while María Dolores visited her on weekends.

The journalist confirms that, a year after little Manuel was born,

in the Salamanca neighborhood, but soon the tap was cut off and, as they say, if I've seen you I don't remember.

Manuel Díaz 'El Cordobés': "I am the happiest man in the world. Everything makes sense in my life"

At the age of 21, María Dolores

with whom she had five children, including Chema, whom she named as her attorney in 2016.

he did not go hungry, but there were

while his father swam in luxury.

At one point, María Dolores

and from that moment she was determined to avenge and honor her mother.

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He began to plot

so that he would recognize him as his son.

The first meeting between the two was at

where another teacher was honored, in this journalistic case, Matías Prats Cañete, a bullfighting commentator.

The event was plagued with gossip because

who finally dared to

He admired him as a bullfighter, but not as a man.

That philosophy was maintained by Manuel Díaz since he became famous.

Both his mother and his grandmother had

since he was little.

for the first time in Abenójar (Ciudad Real) and a decade later, in 1993, at the age of 25,

in Seville with

89) and

( 60).

The emotional meeting of Manuel Benítez 'El Cordobés' and his son Manuel Díaz before the cameras

Between both dates, there was one that is still burned into her heart.

-she was 16 years old- she went to the

The next day the young man did it as a bullfighter.

Isabel Pantoja's husband gave her a slap on the cheek and said: "This is Córdoba and you are El Cordobés.

so that you have the luck that I have had or more. It is for you."

A kind of public confession that attested to the link between the two 'El Cordobés'.

Sadly, that afternoon Paquirri would die.

In 1986, emulating his father,

while Manuel Benítez was fighting.

He wanted to show him that

not as a man, because she had disregarded him and his mother.

When the press approached Manuel, he always responded with

biological father.

But he

DNA testing.

He didn't want a scandal.

Since 1975 he was

with whom he had five children, including

, also a bullfighter who has come to

of his brother Manuel.

Before the marriage, he had

María Ángeles Benítez Raigón (54) -recognized in 2000- and the American actor Manuel Benítez, the result of his relationship with Alina Elizabeth Velasco, who was assassinated at the age of 39 in 2008. The stable El Cordobés' marriage ended in 2016.

Julio Benítez (i), Manuel Benítez (c) and Manuel Díaz.GTRES

While he was fighting, Manuel Díaz presented himself on the posters as 'El Cordobés', which prompted

but also called on all the businessmen

On

, the young right-hander, who in 1997

(49), daughter of millionaire José Luis Martín Berrocal, continued

that his father was Manuel Benítez.

His intention was only to meet him and give him a hug.

This is how he himself remembered it in one of the chapters of

: "Benítez is my father. I believe my mother, who is the one who told me as a child and has always repeated it. I want nothing from him, I mean material issues "

I've been wanting to hug him for a long time, but I've lost hope.

Every time a camera approached the great teacher, he became angry, he was tremendously violent.

El Cordobés and his mother, María Dolores Díaz, in 2017.GTRES

For many years, El Cordobés Jr. proclaimed his illusion with a simple hug.

A hug of love, protection, affection.

But he never came.

While he formed his family.

(23), they divorced and later he married

(42), with whom

Manuel (18) and Triana (14).

With them he has always been a great father who has given them tenderness, trust and love.

Manuel

to present his paternity suit in court.

Finally,

of Manuel Benítez after the DNA evidence was presented in 2018. At 47, he could already say out loud who his father was.

But both

Little by little, rough edges were

, they couldn't be seen, but it seemed that the great teacher was almost

But he was always long.

Divine providence has wanted that, on the occasion of the twentieth anniversary of his appointment as V Caliph of Bullfighting on Valentine's Day, the two Manueles

wrapped in two very white smiles.

One of the photos of the year, without a doubt.

The photo of their lives, of course.

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

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