the House of Representatives takes the blow to bullfighting

From 2027, Colombia will leave the increasingly small circle of bullfighting centers still active on the planet.

After 10 years of struggle and argument to change mentalities on animal welfare in Colombia, the defenders of this law are savoring this victory, while the various bills had been abandoned 14 times. The text must still go through a rereading in the Senate and then be validated by President Gustavo Petro, but these two steps are considered formalities. Bullfights have been banned since 2020 in Bogota and Medellin and will now be banned throughout the country from 2027.

A transition period must, in fact, be respected, because in certain regions, a large part of the economy is based on the bullfighting industry, particularly around the cities of Cali and Manizales. Livestock breeding and “fiestas bravas” represent 1,200 direct jobs and 15,000 informal jobs.

But the Colombian MP behind the ban law says other cities already have alternatives. “This bullfighting activity is seasonal and lasts less than seven days a year! Imagine what these spaces could become, cultural centers or concert halls. Look at what has been done in Cartagena. La Serrezuela today employs 500 people and it is a commercial center with permanent and formal employment.”

The economic argument of those who defended the practice of bullfighting did not carry much weight and the approval of this law reveals a change in mentality, a cultural transformation and an essential step towards achieving “Total peace”.

The parliamentary group which supported this text believes that the images of mistreatment, animal torture and blood from bullfights keep the country in an atmosphere of violence from which it seeks to escape, in the face of the Farc guerrillas and the war against drug traffickers. .