Bullfighting on Horns of a Dilemma

In a move that could accelerate the decline of a 500-year-old tradition in Mexico, lawmakers in this capital city have voted to ban those younger than 18 from attending bullfights here.

The ban could take effect at the Plaza Mexico bullring as early as next month unless Mexico City Mayor Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador forces the Metropolitan Assembly to reconsider. The ban was one of 70 articles in a bill on animal protection that was passed 55 to 0 by the assembly late Thursday.

The mayor said Friday that he will abide by the legislation, including the age limit.

The bill was approved at a time when attendance and the number of bullfights are in decline in Mexico. Bullfighting faces competition from television and other entertainment.

Controversies at Plaza Mexico, including charges that it uses underage bulls, have soured the public on bullfighting.

Organizers and fans immediately attacked the ban as an assault on civil rights, the economy and logic. A spokesman for Plaza Mexico, Juan Castaneda, said ranchers, bullring employees and matadors will convene next week to devise a strategy to try to reverse the ban.

“This is a unilateral decision that will have an economic chain of consequences,” Castaneda said.

The bill was pushed through the left-leaning assembly by the small but forceful Green Ecologist Party, which has long campaigned against bullfights and cockfights.

In exchange for their support in the 2000 presidential election, the Greens extracted a promise from Vicente Fox during his victorious campaign to not attend a bullfight or cockfight until after the election.

“To kill for enjoyment is an act without justification,” said Arnold Ricalde, a Green Ecologist Party assemblyman. He said the party will push for similar legislation in all 31 states. Mexico City is a federal district, similar to Washington, D.C., only larger, and has its own assembly.

Animal rights activist Maria Elena Hoyo hailed the ban but is skeptical that it will be enforced. She said that the wording of the legislation prohibiting youths from attending animal “sacrifices” is ambiguous and that the ban will be difficult to enforce,

“I defend animals, but I also defend freedom. I would rather prevent people from going to bullfighting through education than interdiction,” Hoyo said.

Plaza Mexico impresario Rafael Herrerias pointed out that popular bullfighter Julian “El Juli” Lopez is only 19 and has been fighting bulls in the world’s most important rings since he was 16.

Bullfight attendance has been on the decline in Mexico in recent years. And the number of bullfights in 2000 was 672, down 7% from 1999, according to the National Assn. of Fighting Bull Breeders.

“All the violence on television, all the police movies with killing are a lot worse than bullfighting and cockfighting, which are strong Mexican traditions,” said Luis de la Garza, the breeders group president.

If the ban is adopted in other states and further cuts attendance, the impact would be felt not so much by the 285 registered fighting bull breeders, but by thousands of farm employees who work on the cattle ranches, De la Garza said.

Parents traditionally bring adolescent children to Sunday afternoon bullfights to teach them the fine points of the spectacle and instill a passion for it.

“Youth are our future fans,” Castaneda said. “If we don’t create them as minors, in a few years the spectacle will be finished and the species of fighting bulls will end.”