District Judge Jonathan Bass Herrera, head of the First District Court in Administrative matters of Mexico, granted the provisional suspension of bullfighting in Mexico City and has ordered that the authorities also suspend the granting of permits to perform such cruel spectacles. This is to give time to the courts to deal with the complaint issued by the group Justicia Justa, which aims to ban all bullfighting in the city. They argue that the two laws that allow bullfighting in the capital are unconstitutional because they allow bulls to be treated in a degrading and stigmatizing way.
The order, produced on 27th May 2022, states, “The provisional suspension is granted, for the effect that while the resolution of definitive suspension is issued, the responsible authorities refrain from executing the contested acts, for which, they must immediately suspend the bullfighting shows in the Benito Juárez Mayor’s Office in Mexico City, as well as the granting of permits to perform said shows.” The borough of Benito Juárez is where the Plaza de Toros Monumental, the bullring in Mexico City, is located, which is the biggest in the world (41,262 seats).
This temporary order is currently being reviewed and at the beginning of June Judge Bass Herrera will decide if it grants a definitive suspension to the complaining organisation, which will mean that no bullfights can take place until the case has ended. In addition, in early June, the Second Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice (SCJN) plans to discuss a draft resolution in which it is proposed to invalidate a 2019 decree of the Congress of Nayarit that declared bullfighting as an intangible cultural heritage. In early December of 2021, the Animal Welfare Commission of the Congress of Mexico City proposed a Bill to ban bullfighting, which will be debated this year. It does seem that the days of bullfighting in the biggest bullring of the most bullfighting country in the world may be counted.
