Antonio's Antecedents

Antonio's family tree of course goes of course much deeper than we see here . Melanie in Ladies Home Journal claimed Antonio must have two hundred relatives in Spain. "Bandera" from the town of Casarabonela is thought to come from "Abanderado" and to be of Moorish derivation.

Both of Antonio's parents were younger siblings that lost a parent when small. His mother, Ana Gallego Bandera, born in the town of Casarabonela (15 kilometers from Carratraca), was one of sixteen children of Rafael and Francisca, but only eleven of these survived.Her mother, Francisca, died when Ana was two years old, after which she was raised by her oldest brother Pepe, who was 28 years older than Ana.

Antonio's grandparents on his father's side were Isabel and Bartolomí Domínguez. José Domínguez, Antonio's papa, was just three years old when his father died. Bartolomí was a Spanish army captain that came to earn the Spanish championship in pistol-shooting on several occasions. Bartolomí returned from Africa with an injury and suffering from diabetes. The two older children, Serafín and Juan, studied in the school for military orphans in Aranjuez, the only daughter of the family took courses to be a teacher, and the youngest, José, entered the General Academy of Toledo. But the Spanish Civil War broke out, and the General Academy of Toledo entered the war.

José began his professional career as a secret policeman and he achieved the rank of subcommissioner. He refused the rank of commissioner (or superintendent) because they would have asked him to move to another city, something that he didn't want despite the advancement. The reason for José's choice was that he wished to remain with his family. However, when he retired from the National Police, it gave him the rank of commissioner as recompense for his years of service.

The expression "secret police" inspires inappropriate images in the case of José Dominguez. During most of his years, Jose was employed at the border, as a customs' agent, in the port of Málaga, or at the airport. He also worked on the Imbatuta for ten years, a ship that made the Málaga-Tánger crossing, controlling the exchange of passengers and goods. There appears to be nothing "secretive" or undercover about his position. He did however meet a few celebrities. Notably, he was a bodyguard for Eva Peron when she visited Spain. He also met the Rolling Stones' Mick Jagger on a Malaga-Tangier crossing.

Antonio's parents, Ana and José, and Mel's mother Tippi enjoy Marbella's ambience shortly after the birth of their granddaughter Stella.

Antonio's parents married November 16, 1958 after a long courtship. The two met when José was part of a contingent sent by Ana's brother Pepe to meet her at the Bobadilla train station in 1950.

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