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Mexico City to vote on ending 500 years of bullfighting
Mexican legislators will vote today on whether to end the 500-year-old tradition of bullfighting in the country's capital.
Bullfighting: on its last legs in Mexico City?
According to The Independent newspaper, a growing number of Mexicans have turned against the spectacle both for its alleged barbarism and its deep roots with Spanish colonialism.
A sub-committee of the Mexico City Legislative Assembly approved a bill to ban bullfighting in the capital last month, which means that the 66 members of the full body have until the end of the current legislative session – ending today – to vote on the controversial plan.
Violent protests
The Huffington Post reports that the city – which is home to the largest bullfighting arena in the world, seating 40,000 – has been a battleground for proponents and detractors of the ban. Protests turned violent last week after an altercation between an animal rights activist and a former bull-fighter, resulting in the police intervening.
The Bill is considered to have a strong chance of passing as the Democratic Revolutionary Party’s 34 members – a majority of one – are expected to vote in favour of the ban.
Murder rate
Mexico has some 225 bullrings, in which an average 9,000 bulls are killed annually. But some commentators have increasingly questioned whether bullfighting should be allowed to continue in a city that has one for the highest murder rates in the world.
City congresswoman Aleida Alavez Ruiz told The Independent: ‘In this country we are living an absurd war against drug dealers, which has left thousands dead and we cannot allow bloody traditions like bullfighting to continue being part of our culture.’
A sub-committee of the Mexico City Legislative Assembly approved a bill to ban bullfighting in the capital last month, which means that the 66 members of the full body have until the end of the current legislative session – ending today – to vote on the controversial plan.
Violent protests
The Huffington Post reports that the city – which is home to the largest bullfighting arena in the world, seating 40,000 – has been a battleground for proponents and detractors of the ban. Protests turned violent last week after an altercation between an animal rights activist and a former bull-fighter, resulting in the police intervening.
The Bill is considered to have a strong chance of passing as the Democratic Revolutionary Party’s 34 members – a majority of one – are expected to vote in favour of the ban.
Murder rate
Mexico has some 225 bullrings, in which an average 9,000 bulls are killed annually. But some commentators have increasingly questioned whether bullfighting should be allowed to continue in a city that has one for the highest murder rates in the world.
City congresswoman Aleida Alavez Ruiz told The Independent: ‘In this country we are living an absurd war against drug dealers, which has left thousands dead and we cannot allow bloody traditions like bullfighting to continue being part of our culture.’
