Tijuana’s city council is working to eliminate the municipal ordinance that governs bullfighting, a move that would strip the city of its legal framework for permitting corridas. Council member Magaly Ronquillo introduced the initiative, arguing that the regulation itself acknowledges it governs “an activity that involves cruelty to animals.” But the effort faces a complicated legal history: Tijuana tried to ban bullfighting before, and a court reversed that decision in April 2025.
Tijuana Bullfighting Ban Overturned by Court in April 2025
Bullfighting’s legal status in Tijuana has shifted repeatedly over the past several years. The city council first moved to prohibit corridas in 2022, when it passed amendments to the municipal animal welfare code. Animal rights groups celebrated the decision as a turning point. Supporters of the tradition, including ranchers and bullfighting promoters, immediately challenged it in court.
In April 2025, a federal court lifted Tijuana’s ban on bullfighting, ruling that the municipal prohibition overstepped local authority. The decision allowed corridas to resume at Tijuana’s Plaza de Toros Monumental, the iconic oceanfront bullring on the Playas de Tijuana coastline. The venue, built in 1957 and sometimes called “the bullring by the sea,” sits just south of the border fence and has long served as a landmark visible from both sides of the international boundary.
The court’s reasoning centered on jurisdictional questions. Federal judges found that animal welfare regulation fell under state and federal authority, not the municipal government’s purview. That ruling effectively nullified Tijuana’s local ban and reopened the door for bullfighting promoters to schedule events.
Ronquillo’s new initiative takes a different legal approach. Rather than banning bullfighting outright through an animal welfare code, the council aims to eliminate the standalone ordinance that creates the permitting structure for bullfighting events. Without the regulatory framework, the city would have no mechanism to issue permits, inspect venues, or authorize corridas at the municipal level.
Still, legal observers have flagged a potential problem. Removing the ordinance might not amount to a prohibition. It could instead create a regulatory vacuum where promoters argue that no local law prevents them from holding events. Ronquillo’s team has been exploring ways to insulate the initiative from the kind of court challenge that overturned the 2022 ban, though details of that legal strategy remain unclear.
Other Mexican States Have Banned or Restricted Corridas
Tijuana is not navigating this debate alone. Several Mexican states and cities have moved to restrict or ban bullfighting over the past decade. Sonora became the first state to ban the practice in 2013. Guerrero, Quintana Roo, and Coahuila followed with their own prohibitions. In 2022, Mexico’s Supreme Court ruled that Mexico City’s ban on bullfighting was constitutional, a decision that shut down the capital’s Plaza México, the world’s largest bullring with a capacity of roughly 41,000.
But the legal terrain remains uneven. In some states, bans have held up. In others, including Baja California, court challenges have reversed municipal-level restrictions. Mexico has no single federal law that prohibits or permits bullfighting nationwide. That patchwork leaves each jurisdiction to fight the battle independently, and outcomes depend heavily on how local governments frame their regulations.
In Baja California, the state congress has not passed a statewide prohibition. That means Tijuana’s council is acting without a state-level backstop. If the municipal ordinance is removed and a promoter challenges the resulting lack of permits, state or federal courts could again intervene.
Plaza de Toros Monumental Draws Cross-Border Visitors
The Plaza de Toros Monumental has occupied a unique place in Tijuana’s tourism economy for decades. Located in Playas de Tijuana, the bullring drew cross-border crowds from San Diego throughout the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s, when corridas were a regular weekend attraction. Attendance declined sharply in the 2000s as cross-border travel became more complicated after September 11, 2001, and as public opinion on animal welfare shifted.
The venue has been used for concerts, festivals, and other events in recent years, even when bullfighting was suspended. If the council’s initiative succeeds, the Plaza de Toros would likely continue operating as an events venue. But the end of corridas would close a chapter that dates back nearly seven decades at the site.
For residents of Playas de Tijuana and visitors who cross the border from San Diego, the practical effect depends on how the legal questions resolve. If the council removes the ordinance and courts uphold that decision, no future bullfights would be permitted at the municipal level. If courts intervene again, the cycle of bans and reversals could continue.
The council is expected to continue discussions over the coming weeks, with no firm date set for a vote. Ronquillo’s statements were first reported by El Sol de Tijuana.