Mexico City bans violent bullfighting, sparking fury and celebration

Mexico City on Tuesday voted overwhelmingly to ban violent bullfighting, triggering outrage from aficionados and celebration from animal rights advocates.

The legislation, approved by a 61-1 vote, prohibits the killing of bulls and the use of sharp objects that could injure the animals.

It also sets time limits on how long bulls can be in the ring, part of an initiative dubbed “bullfighting without violence”.

The decision sparked angry protests from bullfighting supporters and matadors, some of whom tried to breach a police barricade at the local Congress.

Some carried signs that read “Being a fan of la fiesta brava (bullfighting) is not a crime, it’s a point of pride”.

Tuesday’s vote appeared to be an attempt to broker a compromise between two warring sides of the debate after years of back-and-forth.

Bullfighting has long been considered a tradition and a pastime in Latin American nations, but has come under criticism for animal cruelty because bulls are often killed at the end of the fight.

Animal rights groups say that approximately 180,000 bulls are killed every year in bullfighting worldwide.

The tradition, which has long drawn big crowds to arenas across Mexico, was dealt a blow when a judge in Mexico City banned the practice in June 2022, shutting down an arena that has been billed as the world’s largest bullfighting ring.

The judge ruled that bullfights violated city residents’ rights to a healthy environment free from violence.

While animal rights advocates celebrated it as a victory, and a step toward ending the bloody tradition, bullfighters said it dealt an economic blow to the city.

The National Association of Breeders of Fighting Bulls in Mexico says bullfighting generates 80,000 direct jobs, and 146,000 indirect jobs across the country.

In 2023, Mexico’s Supreme Court overturned the ban without explanation, allowing bullfighting arenas to be flooded once again with fans of the so-called “fiesta brava”.