A Jalisco district judge ordered the suspension of the final two bullfights of the year at the Nuevo Progreso bullring in Guadalajara.
Luis Alberto Márquez Pedroza granted a petition from the animal rights organization AnimaNaturalis that called on the bullfights to be halted on the grounds that the activity breached local laws covering cruelty and torture of animals.
The ruling follows similar decisions taken recently by judges in Mexico City, Tijuana and Puebla.
The Sunday, November 26 bullfight at the Nuevo Progreso would have seen the Guadalajara farewell of the Spanish rejoneador Pablo Hermoso de Mendoza, who was scheduled to appear alongside his son Guillermo Hermoso. The bullfight on Sunday, December 3 will also not take place.
The organizers of the bullfights, Espectáculos Monterrey, issued a statement denouncing the ruling and vowing to fight the closure.
This is the first time in more than 50 years that a bullfight at the Nuevo Progreso Bullring has been suspended, the facility’s manager, Jorge López de los Reyes, said in an interview.
He said bullfighting generates nearly eight billion pesos in revenue, adding that 3,400 direct jobs and 1,200 indirect jobs will be affected.
On Sunday, several hundred supporters of bullfighting gathered outside the Nuevo Progreso bullring to protest the decision.
Meanwhile, defenders of animal rights marched from the Minerva Glorieta to the Ninos Héroes monument to demand that the practice of killing animals for sport be banned once and for all.
Interim Guadalajara Mayor Francisco Ramírez Salcido said the municipality would abide by the judge’s ruling and enforce the closure of the bullring on the specified dates.