The crowd of 42,000 people at La Plaza México, a stadium in Mexico City, Mexico, started whistling restlessly. It was 4:30 in the afternoon on January 28, and they had waited since May 15, 2022—a period of 624 days of legal challenges—for bulls to return to the world’s largest bullfighting arena. Now they faced one last delay because of the hundreds of protesters outside.
When the afternoon’s three matadors and their bullfighting entourage finally emerged to salute the fans, the crowd erupted. Then, at 4:58 p.m., the first bull charged out and raced around the ring.
Over the next two and a half hours, fans cheered and jeered, shouted “olé,” smoked cigars, ate grilled meats and chips, and watched five bulls die with swords plunged into their spines.
“To see it here—the ‘olé’ and how the plaza rumbles—it’s indescribable,” says Erik Reyes, 30, a Mexico City resident who was in the stands.
But the excitement in the arena has been matched by the fervor to ban the spectacle for good. Bullfighting, spread by Spain throughout its colonies in Latin America in the 1500s, has been at the center of a major legal fight over its return to the largest bullfighting city in the largest bullfighting nation in the world. That battle has come to symbolize a larger war between tradition and evolving views on animal cruelty.
It was 4:30 in the afternoon on January 28. A crowd of 42,000 people was gathered in La Plaza México, a stadium in Mexico City, Mexico. They started whistling restlessly. They had waited since May 15, 2022, for bulls to return to the world’s largest bullfighting arena. There had been 624 days of legal challenges. Now they faced one last delay because of the hundreds of protesters outside.
When the afternoon’s three matadors and their bullfighting teams finally emerged to salute the fans, the crowd erupted in cheers. Then, at 4:58 p.m., the first bull charged out and raced around the ring.
Over the next two and a half hours, fans cheered and jeered. They shouted “olé” and smoked cigars. Many ate grilled meats and chips. They watched five bulls die with swords plunged into their spines.
“To see it here—the ‘olé’ and how the plaza rumbles—it’s indescribable,” says Erik Reyes, 30, a Mexico City resident who was in the stands.
But the excitement in the arena has been matched by the commitment to ban bullfighting for good. Bullfighting spread to the Spanish colonies in Latin America in the 1500s. The practice has been at the center of a major legal fight over its return to Mexico City, the largest bullfighting city in the largest bullfighting nation in the world. That battle has come to symbolize a larger war between tradition and changing views on animal cruelty.