Is bullfighting dying? The Bullring in Mexico City is the focus of arduous debate

MEXICO CITY — At 4:30 p.m. on January 28, the crowd of 42,000 people that almost filled La Plaza México began impatiently whistling. They had waited since May 15, 2022 — a period of 624 days of legal challenges — for the bulls to return to the world's largest bullring, only to face another delay due to hundreds of protesters outside.

When the afternoon's three matadors and their crews finally paraded to greet the fans, the Mexico City arena erupted in joy. Then, at 4:58 p.m., the first bull emerged and ran around the ring.

For the next two and a half hours, The fans cheered and booed, shouted “olé,” smoked cigars, ate roast beef and French fries, drank beer and mezcal, and watched five bulls die by rapier.

Bullfighting, spread by Spain in its Latin American colonies in the 16th century, has been at the center of a legal fight regarding its return to the largest bullfighting city in the largest bullfighting country in the world. That battle has come to symbolize a broader war between tradition and changing views on animal cruelty.

The legal whiplash continued on Jan. 31, when a judge temporarily suspended bullfighting at La Plaza México — just days after it resumed. La Plaza México officials challenged the decision, and on February 2, a different court lifted the suspension.

Despite a steady decline over the decades due to bans and growing opposition, The practice continues in five other countries, in addition to Spain and Mexico: France, Colombia, Venezuela, Peru and Ecuador. (In Portugal and the United States, bullfighting is allowed, but without killing the animals).

The first recorded bullfight in Mexico was in 1526, according to a national bullfighting organization, and there are still 326 plazas or arenas. Since 2013, five of Mexico's 31 states have banned bullfighting.

But For almost two years, a legal dispute had put the future of bullfighting on the country's main stage in doubt.

Arguing that the “degrading” treatment of bulls was detrimental to society, a human rights group successfully convinced a federal judge in 2022 to approve a suspension of bullfighting at La Plaza México, even though the practice is allowed in other parts of the country.

At that time, Mario Zulaica, 42, a former bullfighter and director of the bullring for eight years, was in Spain trying to hire matadors for La Plaza México. “It hit me like a bucket of cold water,” he said.

In a typical year, La Plaza México hosted up to 30 bullfighting events, Zulaica said. The place, he added, directly employed 2,000 people and provided work for thousands more, including nearby restaurants and cattle ranches.

After La Plaza México officials appealed the decision, Mexico's Supreme Court overturned the suspension in early December, allowing bullfighting to return while the case was still being decided. So the plaza went ahead and scheduled nine events through the end of March.

On January 31, another federal judge thwarted those plans by imposing a new ban on bullfighting in the arena, at the request of an animal rights group that argued that bulls should receive the same legal protection as other animals in the country. .

Zulaica said La Plaza México's lawyers quickly appealed that same day, and the Feb. 2 ruling meant that bullfights scheduled for Feb. 3 and 4 could go ahead. ““Someone cannot be so intransigent as not to see that there were 40 thousand attendees, demonstrating that bullfighting is more alive than ever.”he claimed.

Although there are many bullfights in other parts of the country, the arena of Mexico City is the country's main economic engine for bullfighting and the main stage to launch a bullfighter's career.

“You are risking your life to create art and create something magical,” said José Mauricio, 39, a Mexican who has been wearing lights for 18 years.

Another Mexican bullfighter, Paola San Román, 28, said the resumption of bullfighting in La Plaza México had been important to highlight “this tradition and this culture.”

Before the bullfight on January 28, more than 300 protesters stopped traffic towards La Plaza México, carrying signs, playing drums and singing. One sign read: “It's not art. “It's torture.”

“No animal should suffer”said Shantel Delgado, 29, a vegetarian dressed as a bull covered in red paint. “Everyone deserves respect like us humans. For me it is not a tradition. “It is an aberration.”

Outside La Plaza México, some protesters spray-painted the walls of the arena (“murderers” appeared a lot) and threw water and trash at riot police as they harassed fans heading to the arena.

Inside La Plaza México, some fans made obscene hand gestures toward protesters. And throughout the afternoon, there were intermittent shouts from the stands: “Long live La Plaza México!” and “Long live the freedom of bullfighting!”

Jerónimo Sánchez, director of Animal Heroes, an organization that started a “Mexico without Bullfighting” campaign 5 years ago, said that “political will” helped drive the ban on bullfighting in some states and municipalities.

“We see it as a Roman circus,” said Sánchez, 40, originally from Seville, Spain. “We see it as an anachronistic spectacle. When bullfighting is banned around the world in a few years, new generations will look back in amazement.”

Zulaica said he understands that younger generations may be more aware of the treatment of animals. But, she added, “we are convinced that in a modern and diverse Mexico we must aspire to a society of freedoms, respect and, above all, toleran
ce towards all cultural expressions – regardless of personal tastes.”

José Saborit, director of a national bullfighting organization, said workers in the bullfighting industry raise fighting bulls, and that only a small percentage of the mother's calves ultimately die in an arena.

Erik Reyes, 30, a Mexico City resident who attended the bullfight at La Plaza México, said he knows bullfights are not for everyone and “undeniably and unfortunately for those who like this, they will disappear.” .

“I'm not against it dying,” he added about bullfighting. “He will die sooner or later. But I am against it being banned when there is still a good number of followers.”

JAMES WAGNER. THE NEW YORK TIMES