AGUASCALIENTES, Mexico (AP) — Mexican matador Diego Silveti performs a ritual ahead of each bullfight.
In each hotel room where he dresses in the garment that may bring him glory or death, he sets up an altar where he leaves his wedding band and prays before heading to the arena.
“By leaving my ring behind, I’m telling God: Here’s everything I am as a father, a husband, a son and a brother,” Silveti said. “I commit to what I was born to be — a bullfighter.”
He last encountered a bull in late April in Aguascalientes, a state in central Mexico where bullfighting is considered a cultural heritage. Weeks before, though, Mexico City lawmakers banned violent bullfighting in the nation’s capital.
While matadors there are still allowed to fight bulls, piercing their muscles with laces or running a sword through their body is prohibited under that ban.
Animal rights advocates celebrated the ruling and Environment Secretary Julia Álvarez said the lawmakers made history. But matadors like Silveti, as well as fans and cattle breeders, contend this long-time Spanish tradition bears a profound significance that would be undermined if bulls can’t be killed in the arena.
“What they propose goes against the essence and the rituals of bullfighting,” Silveti said. “It’s a veiled prohibition that opposes the ways in which it has been done since its origins.”
Bullfighting in Mexico traces its roots to Spain
The European conquerors of Mesoamerican territories in the 16th century brought along Catholicism and cultural practices that are now intertwined with Indigenous customs.
Researcher and bullfighting fan Antonio Rivera lives in Yucatán, a southeastern state where bullfights reflect ancient Mayan traditions.
“In local celebrations, the roo …