A Mexico City court reauthorised the bullfights yesterday, two days after they were suspended by a judge at the request of an animal rights association.

Disrupting bullfighting “has a negative impact on a whole series of activities and rights which, at least until now, have constituted a lawful activity”, the court said in its decision, made public in a news release.

The company organising bullfights in the capital welcomed the ruling, expressing its “commitment” to the “traditions and cultural richness” of the practice.

This latest turnaround may be short-lived, however, because a hearing scheduled for Feb 7 will decide on a possible ban on bullfighting in Mexico City.

Hundreds of people have demonstrated around the capital’s massive Plaza de Toros – the world’s largest bullring – to denounce what they see as animal torture.

“We will exhaust all legal recourse in defense of animal welfare,” said Mexico City Congressman Jorge Gavino, who supports an association opposed to bullfighting.

A judge ordered an indefinite suspension of bullfighting in Mexico City in June 2022 but the Supreme Court revoked that decision in December, without ruling on the merits.

President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has proposed a referendum on the future of bullfighting in the Mexican capital.

Four of the country’s 32 states have already banned the practice, which was brought to Mexico by Spanish conquistadors in the 16th century.