Spanish bullfighter criticized for "baby in ring" photo

Famous Spanish bullfighter, 'Fran' Francisco Rivera Ordonez, has received a wave of criticism after posting a photo of himself training in a bullring while holding his five month old daughter.

The photo, which was posted on Monday, shows the 42-year-old holding the baby while allowing a bull to pass close by his chest and he titled the photo "Carmen's debut."

"This is the fifth generation of bullfighters in my family. My grandfather used to fight with my father and I like this," he wrote.

The photo quickly provoked mixed reactions with one person replying "I don't understand how you can put your daughter in such danger," and another writing, "If I was your wife, I'd kill you."

However, within 13 hours of Rivera posting the photo 4,500 people had clicked to say they liked the image with one person saying it was "a great image... let the legend continue."

Rivera's father Francisco 'Paquirri' Rivera was famously killed by a bull in 1984 while bullfighting in the city of Cordoba aged just 36, while Fran has not fought publically since being badly gored by a bull which gave him a 25 cm wound in the abdomen last summer.

But if anything the photo shows how the issue of bullfighting continues to divide Spaniards with some in favor and others considering it brutal and cruel. Endit