Row over lion cubs at Spanish celebrity fiesta

Rivera, most famous for being the son of Spanish actress and singer Isabel Pantoja, borrowed the lion cubs from a zoo near Seville for his celebrity New Year's Eve bash.

Guests at the event then tweeted pictures of themselves with the night's attractions.

Buenas noches me quedo con esta foto de la velada Rubio cachorro y yo pic.twitter.com/IbTOlDuJBo

— Anabel Pantoja (@AnabelPantoja00) December 31, 2013

But Spain's Efe news agency reported that agents from the Civil Guard's environmental squad had crashed the party to remove the animals.

The lion cubs, born in September, didn't have the proper permission to be displayed publicly, Efe reported. The animals were then taken away. 

However, sources from the zoo then told El Mundo newspaper that the lions' papers were in order. The officers had simply checked the animals' papers and moved on, those sources said.

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The 29-year-old Rivera is a Spanish media personality who is currently trying to establish himself as a DJ. His parents are the singer Isabel Pantoja and the bullfighter Francisco Rivera, who died in the ring after being gored by a bull in 1984.   

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