Plaza de Toros
Augusto Rodin 130, Cd. de los Deportes, Benito Juárez, 03710 Ciudad de México, CDMX
55 7591 5557
https://www.google.com.mx/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&ved=2ahUKEwjf442nlYD3AhXtIUQIHWyRAZAQ_Bd6BAh6EAM&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.laplazamexico.com%2F&usg=AOvVaw3czpm3Ju79twXOISk-HqKt
The Monumental Plaza de Toros, “La México” as known to locals, is the largest bullring in the world with a capacity of 41,262 people and while in recent times there have been movements, social and in the Mexican houses of legislation, to have bullfighting banned from the country due to concerns about animal cruelty, it’s still (for the time being) a singular and colorful experience that may go extinct in the not so distant future.
The tradition of bullfighting, and all the pomp and circumstance that surrounds it, has been one of the country’s traditions inherited from the Spanish. Since 1946, when the massive bullfighting venue was inaugurated, it has been customary to see politicians, industrialists, journalists, and other celebrities, parade in style on Sundays during the bullfighting season to watch the top bullfighters or “matadors” of the world, decked in stylish fashion, they yell “ooh” and “ahh”, and the traditional “olé” in response to the graceful movements displayed by the matadors at the center of the bullring. The bullring itself sits some 20 meters below street level.
The Plaza de Toros is part of a larger development called La Ciudad de los Deportes and sits right next to a larger soccer stadium, the Estadio Azul, that for years was the home of local club Cruz Azul, till they relocated to Estadio Azteca a couple of years ago. Nowadays the stadium hosts fútbol team Atlante, in the 2nd division of the Mexican soccer league. The Ciudad de los Deportes development also included tennis courts, pools, frontón, and a boxing and lucha libre arena. Getting to the Plaza de Toros is very easy, as it has its own Metrobus Línea 1 dedicated station, “Ciudad de los Deportes”.
For all the glamour of its bull runs, attending one is not really expensive, the highest-priced seats are $1,060 pesos from the fist row of the barrera, the wooden structure that surrounds the bullring, and there are far more affordable seats up in the nose-bleed section for just $360 pesos. As is customary, there’s always an assortment of food and beverage vendors ambling through the aisles of the venue.
The Plaza de Toros may have its days numbered as a bullfighting venue as legislators and animal rights protestors keep progressing in their intent to ban the activity from the city, as it has already been banned in 3 other Mexican states: Sonora, Guerrero, and Coahuila; yet in the meantime it’s still a unique and colorful experience that will one day be a part of a bygone era.
