There are, of course, democracies and democracies. Switzerland is a country, for instance, that operates by ‘consensual democracy’ - a form of democracy that emphasizes reaching broad agreement rather than simply relying on majority rule. This type of democracy prioritises inclusive decision-making, aiming to incorporate as many diverse viewpoints as possible and taking account of minority concerns.

A more common form of democracy operates through majority decision-making. Where there is a broad range of political parties, this can still involve a degree of consensus, but a polarised political environment (which we are increasingly seeing around the Western world) can lead to a more authoritarian approach, sometimes - as the USA is now experiencing - involving wild swings in approach from one administration to another as different political parties come into power.

In Mexico, the Partido Nacional Revolucionario (PRI), founded in 1929, dominated national politics for over 70 years, bringing to power 11 different governments and effectively governing the country as a one-party state. Its main rival, the Partido Acción Nacional (PAN), founded in 1939, only won the presidency twice, in 2000 and 2006. After the retirement of the PRI’s Left-wing president Lázaro Cárdenas in 1940, the party lurched to the Right, and in 1989 many Left-wing members left to launch the Partido de la Revolución Democrática (PRD). This party developed into a third force in Mexican politics, although it never captured the presidency, and a further split occurred after it lost the 2012 presidential election, when Andrés Manuel López Obrador founded the Movimiento de Regeneración Nacional (known as Morena), which describes itself as a democratic Left-wing party that supports ethnic, religious, cultural, and sexual diversity, respect for human rights, and environmental care. In 2018, López Obrador won the presidential election in a landslide with 53% of the popular vote - the first candidate to win an outright majority since 1988, and the first candidate not from the PRI or its predecessors to do so since the Mexican Revolution. He stood down for the 2024 election when Morena’s candidate, Claudia Sheinbaum, who had declared a commitment to continuing López Obrador’s policies, won another landslide victory, receiving the highest number of votes ever recorded for a presidential candidate in Mexico’s history, and carrying 31 out of the country’s 32 states.

The presidency is an important position in Mexico’s democracy, as history has shown that the political party in power tends to mould its policies around the beliefs of that postholder. Shortly after her election, commenting on the introduction of her predecessor’s Animal Welfare Law and its potential impact on bullfights and cockfights, Ms Sheinbaum declared, “I am a protector of animals and we’re at a point of revising all that.” She suggested Mexico’s traditions should be analysed from a new perspective that did not involve animal suffering. On the morning of March 12, the same day as the Congreso de los Diputados de la Ciudad de México was due to discuss the prohibition of bullfighting in the capital, she returned to this theme, declaring that she was in favour of bullfighting, albeit “sin muerte y sin daño al toro”.

With the Congress debate postponed and taking the hint from her leader, the next day the head of Mexico City’s government, Clara Brugada, published her proposals for future bullfighting in the capital. These not only involved the banning of banderillas, espadas, puyas and any other wounding implement, but also insisted on the covering of bulls’ horns so no injury occurs to “other animals or people”. Other proposed measures suggested that the real aim is to do away with bullfights altogether - bulls should be returned alive to their ganaderías, while the maximum length of a corrida was to be 30 minutes, permitting just three bulls to be caped for 10 minutes each.

There was a strong reaction to these proposals from the country’s taurinos, who pointed out that they had emerged from out of the blue and without any consultation with those affected. “What’s proposed is absurd,” said José María Arturo Huerta, ex-president of Mexico’s ranchers association. “Señora Brugada was badly advised and she got carried away. The fighting bull has two purposes, to be the protagonist in the corrida, and then to be part of the human diet, due to the high standards of care that we give it in the ganaderías.” Mariano del Olmo commented, “ They’re losing sight of the fact that they are going against nature, to the detriment of the economy of thousands of Mexicans, ecology and culture,” while legal expert Salvador Arias said, “There must be a serious and responsible dialogue. It’s inconceivable that those most affected should be left out of all this.” Pedro Haces, a Morena diputado federal, commented on radio, “I will be voting against the prohibition of bullfighting because I have to be consistent with how I’ve lived over the years. I’ve been an aficionado práctico for three decades; a bullfight empresa for more than 40 years; a defender of the fiesta from childhood; and, a rancher of toros bravos. I could not vote in favour and leave my essence: it would be incongruous. I want to share with everyone that the changes I’ve proposed haven’t been more than what I’ve previously said - reduction of the puya and removal of the descabello. In addition, you can't have 10 minutes in a bullfight for each bull because it would no longer be a bullfight; it would be a spectacle, a kind of decaffeinated coffee […] Before a decision is made in the plenary, those of us who really know about bullfighting should be heard; a commission should be formed where we can express everything that’s involved.”

Mexico’s leading matador, Joselito Adame, issued a strong statement on the morning of the Congress: “Precisely in these times, our leaders, in the face of the challenges and threats of the international economic environment, call on the people of Mexico to remember that we are a free, sovereign country, solid in culture, tradition and democracy, and today, more than ever, that we should live a period of unity. To face this situation, rulers reject authoritarian decisions as the central discourse, appealing to dialogue, moderation, reasoning and respect as immovable values .

“Ironically, it is the same political class that now, with intolerance and authoritarianism, without objective dialogue or any respect, restricting our freedom and comparing us with other countries, intends to attack a lawful activity, with ethical and cultural values, that is part of the economic engine of our beloved country. They try, in a reprehensible way, to disguise in a deceptive initiative the extinction of bullfighting under the pretext of a supposed "transformation".

But the wheels of Mexico’s democracy had kept on turning throughout the polemic. When it came time to vote on the proposed new format, 61 deputies voted in favour, with only one vote - that of Pedro Haces - against. The only change in the proposals is that each animal can be toreado for 15 minutes and a corrida can consist of six bulls.

The new regime is intended to come into effect within 210 days. Salvador Arias, on behalf of Tauromaquia Mexicana, plans to go to the tribunals with legal arguments against the imposition, but the situation could take some considerable time to be resolved legally, and hopes are not high. How long will the owners of Plaza México - victims of a succession of legal disputes in recent years that have temporarily stopped the bullring operating - permit their building to be out of use before the site is redeveloped?

*Carlos Arruza - one of several impressive statues outside Mexico City’s bullring*

The bullfight tradition has long been portrayed as the countryside entering the city. In this instance, the city has said, “No more!”. Joselito Adame has warned of a domino effect and there must be concerns that other Mexican states will follow the capital’s lead. Aguascalientes, where the current mayoress is a PAN member, must now be viewed as Mexico’s taurine capital and may be safe for the time being, but Tlaxcala’s council, for instance, is led by a member of Morena. There is a real danger that taurine Mexico - epitomised by Rodolfo Gaona, Fermín Espinosa Armillita, Carlos Arruza and Manolo Martínez in the past and the likes of Joselito Adame, Diego Silveti and Isaac Fonseca today - will become merely an element of the country’s cultural past. The taurine world as a whole will become poorer as a result.

Farewell, Plaza México

El Niño as ganadero