In 2009, he was awarded the Fine Arts medal by the Culture Ministry of Spain, a coveted bullfighting prize, but his receipt resulted in a public outcry.

Eugenia's mother was the Duchess of Alba, Cayetana Fitz-James Stuart, who was the most titled noble in the world.

In 2011, Francisco Rivera started dating Lourdes Beatriz Montes Parejo,[3] then a 27-year-old lawyer from Sevilla.

[5][6] Rivera Ordóñez, who is known in the press as "Fran", was the subject of the book Death and the Sun: A Matador's Season in the Heart of Spain by American journalist Edward Lewine.

In 2012 he was again involved in a book, The Bull and The Ban by filmmaker Catherine Tosko and British bullfighter and writer Alexander Fiske-Harrison.