Featured image credit: La Plaza México
Bullfighting will return to the world’s largest bullring in Mexico City later this month, it has been announced, following the overturning of a ban that has been in place since May 2022.
Mario Zulaica, director of the Plaza de Toros México, has scheduled an initial nine bullfights at the venue, running from January 28 to March 24. In May 2022, a judge ordered the indefinite suspension of the centuries-old practice in Mexico City, siding with animal rights activists who had filed a lawsuit.
However, the Second Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation (SCJN) revoked the ruling last month, leading to yesterday’s (Thursday’s) announcement. Having opened in 1946 with a capacity of around 50,000, the Plaza de Toros México these days holds around 42,000 people and had been catering to sports and cultural events such as concerts since the ban on bullfighting was imposed.
During the suspension, “thousands of people could not freely exercise their profession, a fundamental right enshrined in our constitution,” Zulaica said yesterday, according to the AFP news agency. He added: “Thousands of people were unable to enjoy their right to culture.”
According to Expansión, Zulaica stated that the reactivation of bullfights is a cause for celebration since prior to the suspension about 40 events were held each year in the bullring, which generated about 30,000 direct and indirect jobs.
Following the Supreme Court decision, President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador proposed a referendum on the future of bullfighting in Mexico City. Today, the practice is legal in 28 of the country’s 32 states.
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