Other states are expected to follow suit
For some it is a sport, for others it is a spectacle, for most it is a traditionand for many, it is a massacre.
Ernest Hemingway, who was passionate about it, stated in his nonfiction book “Death in the Afternoon” (1932), that, “Bullfighting is the only art in which the artist is in danger of death.”
In the end, bullfighting is the art of fighting bulls on foot or horseback, and its origins date back to the Bronze Age. Its modern form is the bullfight, a festival that originated in Spain in the 12th century and is also practiced in Portugal, France, Mexico, Peru, Venezuela, Ecuador, Colombia, and Costa Rica.
For many years, the event has been called “Corrida de Toros” and it is divided into Tercios, like “third”, meaning that the whole thing has three parts of interacting with the animal.
Six bulls and three bullfighters (matadors) participate in the traditional bullfight, each “matador” fighting two bulls. The bulls are paired and assigned to each matador through a random drawing of lots. The bullring is known as the plaza de toros. Bulls used in bullfights are not common meat or milk cattle but a special, distinctly savage breed, which have been bred for centuries for the sole purpose of attacking people in the arena. Mature fighting bulls can weigh between 1,300 and 1,600 pounds (600–700 kg).
The first act consists of two picadors mounted on horses who lance the bull with pike poles. They do this to wound the bull so that it does not jump and raise its head. These wounds weaken it.
The second act is to decorate the bull. The performers of this part are called “banderilleros” and they are the assistants on foot who execute the initial passes to the bull with the cape and place the barbed darts. This will tell the matador if the animal is ready, meaning depleted, so it is a little bitdangerous for the matador.
The third and final act is when matadors work the bull, when the public yells “Ole”, and when the matador works the bull and eventually kills it using a long sword. To do it properly takes great skill and courage, and the audiences know the difference.
The typical kill is performed by the bullfighter thrusting the muleta forward with the left hand, causing the bull to lower its head and lunge in quest of its adversary, while sinking the sword with the right hand into the small opening between the bull’s shoulder blades at the junction with the neck. The sword should penetrate diagonally, severing the aorta, which, if well executed, causes almost instant death.
This show also has a lot of detractors and after years of protests everywhere in the world, the Mexican government decided to act and ban these events. The Mexico City Congress approved the ruling regulating bullfights to transform them into “violence-free celebrations” to protect the integrity and dignity of the animals in bullfights, bullfights on horseback, bullfights for young bulls, bullfighting festivals, and bullfighting trials.
The spectacle will still be allowed in Plaza Mexico (the biggest bullring in the world) but with significant changes in the rules, to keep the animals from suffering. To reach this goal, these are the new rules:
• Prohibition of the use of sharp objects such as banderillas, lances, and swords on the animal.
• The bullfight must last a maximum of 15 minutes.
• Maximum of six bulls per bullfight.
• Causing injury or death to the animals is prohibited; in the event of death, the fine could reach up to 339,000 pesos (around 17,000 USD)
• The horns of the bull must be protected with some kind of insulation to prevent injury to participants.
• After the bullfight, the bull must return safe and sound to the ranch.
• And the concept of a “violence-free bullfight” is the accepted way to refer to this spectacle.