Tijuana City Council repeals bullfighting regulations

The Tijuana City Council has unanimously approved the repeal of the Bullfighting Spectacles Regulation, a set of rules that had been in effect since 1991. This decision effectively eliminates the legal framework that permitted bullfighting, novilladas, and other bullfighting events within the city.

Councilwoman Magaly Ronquillo Palacios, chair of the Commission for Substantive Equality and Social Inclusion, presented the proposal, stating that the repeal was a “constitutional duty” to prevent the legalization of what she described as torture. The move aims to align municipal regulations with modern constitutional principles regarding animal protection and welfare.

In addition to the local repeal, the Council issued formal exhortations to the Baja California State Congress. These requests urge state legislators to reform the State Penal Code and the Law for the Protection of Domestic Animals to remove specific exceptions that currently exempt bullfighting and related festivities from animal cruelty and mistreatment sanctions.