Colombia’s nationwide bullfighting ban will take full effect on July 22, 2027. Law 2385 of 2024 prohibits bullfights and several related spectacles after a three-year transition, and the Constitutional Court upheld the law in September 2025.
The change is historic, but it was not immediate. Traditional events can still occur under tightly restricted conditions during the transition. A 2026 government decree now specifies welfare, veterinary and authorization requirements until the prohibition begins.
Key takeaways
- Colombia enacted Law 2385—often called the “No Más Olé” law—on July 22, 2024.
- The nationwide prohibition starts three years later, on July 22, 2027.
- The law covers bullfights, rejoneo, novilladas, becerradas and tientas.
- The Constitutional Court upheld the core ban on September 4, 2025.
- During the transition, events face restrictions under Law 2385 and Decree 703 of 2026.
- The government must support economic and cultural transition for people and venues tied to bullfighting.
What does Colombia’s bullfighting ban prohibit?
Law 2385 of 2024 applies across Colombia. Article 3 prohibits five named activities once the transition ends:
- Corridas de toros: formal bullfights in which a matador performs with and typically kills a bull.
- Rejoneo: bullfighting performed primarily from horseback.
- Novilladas: events involving younger bulls and often less-experienced bullfighters.
- Becerradas: events involving calves or very young cattle.
- Tientas: tests used to evaluate fighting cattle, subject to specific treatment under the transition rules.
The law also covers procedures used within those spectacles that undermine animal integrity. It preserves only artistic heritage elements that do not involve animal mistreatment.
When does the ban take effect?
President Gustavo Petro signed Law 2385 on July 22, 2024. Its general legal validity began that day, but the central prohibition was deliberately delayed for three years. The bullfighting ban therefore becomes fully operative on July 22, 2027.
This distinction corrects two common descriptions. Colombia did not end every bullfight on the day Congress voted in May 2024, and the effective date is not a vague point “sometime in 2027.” The statute provides a calculable three-year period from enactment.
What did Colombia’s Constitutional Court decide?
On September 4, 2025, Colombia’s Constitutional Court rejected challenges to the legislation and upheld the main prohibition. Supporters of bullfighting had argued that the law infringed rights including artistic expression, work and cultural participation.
The Court’s rulings also affected animal spectacles that the original statute had treated as exceptions. Separate constitutional review expanded the animal-protection framework to activities including cockfighting, while setting its own transition timetable.
That means the queued claim that the Court “ratified” the law on September 12, 2025 is imprecise. September 12 was associated with later reporting about the decisions; the widely reported Court action occurred on September 4.
What is allowed during the transition?
Until July 22, 2027, Colombia has not simply left bullfighting unregulated. The statute allows events only in places where they form a regular, uninterrupted tradition and only at their customary times. Municipal and departmental governments may not use public money to finance these events or construct facilities for them.
On July 7, 2026, the government issued Decree 703, which established detailed transition requirements. These include:
- prior authorization and evidence that the local tradition has continued regularly since 2010;
- animal-transport and health documentation;
- a veterinary team present throughout each event;
- continuous access to clean water and appropriate food before the event;
- restrictions on devices or substances that cause pain or impair an animal before entering the ring;
- a ban on minors participating in or attending covered events;
- local monitoring, written records and immediate suspension for noncompliance.
These rules do not make bullfighting harmless. They are temporary controls intended to reduce suffering and prevent expansion while the country moves toward prohibition.
Why did Colombia choose a three-year phaseout?
The transition is designed to address the livelihoods and public spaces built around bullfighting. Law 2385 directs the national government to create economic and employment-conversion programs for people whose principal income depends on the activity.
It also calls for publicly owned bullrings to be converted into venues for cultural, recreational, sporting and artistic uses after the prohibition takes effect. Statistical and labor agencies are expected to help identify affected workers and develop alternatives.
This approach recognizes that ending an animal spectacle involves more than banning an event. Enforcement is more likely to last when workers, informal vendors and municipalities have practical routes toward different activities.
Does the law ban every Colombian event involving bulls?
No. Law 2385 was written around specific forms of classical bullfighting rather than every agricultural, sporting or festival activity involving cattle. Its original text expressly excluded some practices, creating further constitutional disputes.
Anyone describing the change as a blanket ban on all animal entertainment in Colombia is therefore overstating the statute. The legal position of corralejas, coleo and cockfighting has also been shaped by later Constitutional Court decisions and separate transition requirements.
Why is the law significant for animal welfare?
Colombia debated national bullfighting legislation for years. Congress finally approved the measure in May 2024 by 93 votes to two, according to Reuters.
The law marks a shift away from treating animal suffering as automatically protected because it occurs within a longstanding cultural practice. At the same time, the transition and venue-conversion provisions aim to preserve nonviolent artistic and community uses of spaces historically associated with bullfighting.
Frequently asked questions
Is bullfighting already illegal throughout Colombia?
Not yet in every circumstance. The nationwide prohibition begins July 22, 2027. Until then, covered events may occur only under transition restrictions and local authorization.
What is Colombia’s “No Más Olé” law?
It is the informal name for Law 2385 of 2024, which schedules the nationwide prohibition of bullfights, rejoneo, novilladas, becerradas and tientas.
Did the Constitutional Court overturn the ban?
No. The Court upheld the central prohibition in 2025 and rejected arguments that it unconstitutionally violated supporters’ rights.
What will happen to Colombian bullrings?
The law requires publicly owned or majority-public venues used for bullfighting to transition toward cultural, recreational, sporting and artistic purposes under the statutory timetable.