In a blow to animal rights activists, Mexico’s Supreme Court has reversed the recent ban on bullfighting in the Mexico City district where the country’s most well-known bullring, the Plaza Mexico, is located.
The decision revokes the ruling handed down several months ago by a federal administrative judge who agreed with the claimants, the NGO Justicia Justa, that the activity represents animal abuse and that the treatment of the bulls is degrading.
“The message from the Supreme Court vote is clear,” said José Saborit, president of Tauromaquia Mexicana. “The prohibitionist tastes of a part of the population cannot be imposed on the entire society.” Saborit highlighted the economic and social costs of banning bullfighting, saying the sector generates 80,000 direct jobs and 140,000 indirect jobs.
Representatives of animal rights organizations called the Supreme Court’s decision a backward step, pointing to polls that indicate a majority of Mexican citizens would like the activity prohibited. Others highlighted the anomaly of many local governments that are tightening their laws surrounding animal abuse—including banning circus animal acts—while leaving bullfighting intact.
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