Bullfight Supporters Disrupt Animal Rights Protest in Mérida

Mérida, Yucatán — Supporters of bullfighting broke up a peaceful protest against animal cruelty in Mérida on Sunday, shouting insults and threatening activists until police stepped in.

The demonstration at the Monumento a la Patria was organized by a small group of animal rights advocates to back federal injunctions obtained by Animal Heroes and PETA Latino. Those legal actions have forced at least four municipal governments to cancel bullfights that involved the torture and killing of bulls.

Though the protest had been announced days in advance, a group of taurinos — bullfighting fans — gathered at the same time and place for a counter-demonstration.

For a few minutes, chants of “Toros sí, toreros no” (Bulls yes, bullfighters no) and “Libertad, libertad” (Freedom, freedom) mixed in the air. The tension quickly escalated, and the bullfighting supporters were eventually pushed to leave the area as police arrived.

Elsa Arceo, an animal rights activist in Yucatán, said the fight against bullfighting must continue even if it is presented as local tradition.

“It’s a customary activity that isn’t even Mexican, it cannot be promoted as a tradition in the state,” she said. “Even if people were born into a bullfighting family, we have to evolve, in thought and action, and defend all the wildlife of Yucatán.”

Arceo pointed to Mexico City’s law allowing bullfights without violence or torture, where the bull leaves the ring alive. “That is what we aspire to here,” she said.

Former bullfighter Michel Lagravere Peniche, known as “Michelito,” confronted one of the activists with obscene gestures and insults, according to witnesses, telling the activist: “You’re just four cats — see you later.” His aggressive behavior drew criticism from journalists at the scene.

Police officers from the Public Security Department (SSP) intervened to protect the activists, who said other members of the crowd threatened to beat them or release a bull to attack them.

The bullfighting supporters then marched along Paseo de Montejo, some on horseback, before dispersing in the streets of the city center.

Activists vowed to keep pushing until animal abuse and torture are eliminated in Yucatán and bullfighting is no longer normalized as a local tradition.