Author Marrianne Wiggins claims that, if you read Ernest Hemingway’s Death in the Afternoon long enough, “he’ll make you love” bullfighting.
Clearly not enough people are reading Hemingway’s paean to the bloodsport. Even in Mexico, surveys indicate that between 60% and 75% of Mexicans want to see bullfighting banned. Last month, Sinaloa became the fifth Mexican state to ban the practice. Now, the capital itself seems set to follow suit.
This season’s bullfights in Mexico City may be the last, as legislators in the city assembly seek to revive a bill banning the activity.
This year’s season closed Sunday at the city’s Plaza Mexico arena, and it was marked — as has become routine — by protesters.
Last year, the assembly’s Animal Welfare Commission gave preliminary approval to a law banning public events “at which animals are subject to mistreatment and cruelty that result in their death.” But the bill never made it to a vote before the full assembly.
But the harsh fact is that bullfighting is not just a way of life in Spanish countries, but a living for a great many people.
Animal rights activist Alberto Luvianos says legislators may have been cowed by the potential lost income.
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“They (legislators) recognized that animals have rights, but the issue they are worried about is the income from bullfighting,” said Luvianos, who estimated the fights create about 3,000 jobs.
The bullfighting associations claim the real number is ten times that amount.
Evangelina Estudillo is one of them. She has worked as street vendor outside the area for 20 years, and the income helped her raise nine children. The prospect of a ban makes her uneasy […]
“I respect those who are against it, but I don’t agree, said Paco Dominguez, who sells bullfighting merchandise and posters. ”I see it as an art, a part of culture, and I make a living off of it.”
Still, the time seems up for the tradition.
Five states in Mexico have enacted bans in just the last decade. Public opinion is steadily rising in favour of bans.
Mexico City, the most populous city in North America, is the largest venue for bullfighting. A ban there would almost certainly spell the end of bullfighting in Mexico, if not internationally.