Plaza de Toros México

The Plaza de Toros México is a privately owned bullfighting ring next to the Estadio Ciudad de los Deportes in the neighborhood of the same name. With a capacity for 42,000 spectators, the plaza is thought to have held up to 50,000 people. It’s used far more for concerts and musical performances today.

The ring measures some 43 meters in diameter. The plaza was built as part of the plan to outfit the entire neighborhood with sports facilities including tennis courts, swimming facilities, theaters, and more. Only the stadium and bullring were built. Both of them are sunken, like the Parque Hundido, as they occupy land once held by a brickworks. The floor of the bullring stands a full 2o meters below the surrounding streets.

The Plaza de Toros opened in 1946 to replace the Toreo de la Condesa, in the Colonia Roma. That bullring had replaced several others that had only been semi-permanently built since the 19th century. Plagued by fire, these wooden structures were usually only expected to last a few decades. During the colonial period, bullfights took place only in temporary purpose-built structures. Bullfighting was entirely banned in Mexico from 1867 until 1887. Today, the practice is legal in 28 of Mexico’s 32 states.