Mexico City is close to approving a bill that would ban bullfights.

Three of the members of a legislative panel voted to endorse the measure, two others abstained, and a sixth member walked out before the vote. It now falls to the full assembly to vote the proposal into city law.

The lawmakers who abstained said that banning bullfights would mean closing down a source of employment for a segment of the population. They added that at the forums held to hear arguments for and against, only critics of bullfighting were present.

Civic organizations and defenders of animals expressed their satisfaction at this preliminary approval of the bill, which had been tied up for more than a year.

Will Mexico City Ban Bullfights?

Mexico's small Green Party called it a "historic" step. Spokesperson Mariana Boy said that in Mexico overall there are some 225 bullrings and at least 22 bullfighting schools, many of which accept boys as young as 6.

The AnimaNaturalis organization commented that bullfighting is legal in just eight countries: Spain, France, Portugal, Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru and Mexico, though in almost all of them there are municipalities that have banned these spectacles.

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