Mexico City bans violent bullfighting, sparking fury and celebration
[March 19, 2025]
By FERNANDA PESCE
MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico City lawmakers 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 could be in the ring, all 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.”
Meanwhile, Animal rights protesters and lawmakers pushing the bill
celebrated, walking out onto the steps of Congress surrounded by police
in riot gear, pumping their fists and carrying stuffed bull dolls.
“It was either this or nothing," said Sofía Morín, an animal rights
activist with the organization Culture Without Torture, Mexico Without
Bullfighting, leading the initiative to change the laws. “We prefer this
because, without a doubt, it's a huge step in protecting animals.”
Mexico City Mayor Clara Brugada of the ruling Morena party echoed
activists saying the decision would turn the Mexican capital into a
place “that respects the rights of animals.
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 about the
practice.
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.
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A young supporter of bullfighting joins a demonstration in support
of bullfighting outside Mexico City's Congress where lawmakers are
expected to debate its continuation in Mexico City, Tuesday, March
18, 2025. (AP Photo/Ginnette Riquelme)
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. Overall, the
industry generates approximately $400 million a year.
That was the concern for many in the crowd protesting the end of the
violent fights, while others like Juan Pablo Pimienta screamed
through a megaphone “it's an activity where the fighting bull dies
in a bullring. That's its nature. ... It is a beast."
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.”
On Tuesday, in a speech before the city's congress, Green Party
lawmaker Jesús Sesma acknowledged that the decision would anger a
segment of the city’s population.
“To those families who feel frustrated today, we're here to say that
no one lost their job,” he said. “There was a middle ground to
continue with these bullfighting spectacles, but now without
violence.”
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