PP and Vox reject Con Málaga's motion to suspend municipal support for bullfighting. Councillor for Festivals, Teresa Porras, advocates governing for all without ideological vetoes.
The full council of Málaga City Hall rejected on Wednesday the motion presented by Con Málaga that called for the suspension of all institutional and economic collaboration with bullfighting. The proposal, defended by spokesperson Nico Sguiglia, was opposed by PP and Vox, while PSOE abstained.
The councillor for Festivals, Teresa Porras, was responsible for setting the government team's position. In her speech, Porras was measured and defended that the City Hall must govern for all citizens, regardless of their preferences. “We must not work from an ideological veto; we must not impose vetoes on legal activities that are part of our cultural reality,” she stated.
The motion from Con Málaga, which sought to withdraw financial support and institutional collaboration with the bullring — the responsibility of the Provincial Council — also included the suspension of bullfighting events during the Málaga Fair, such as the handing over of the paseo cape. Sguiglia argued that in 2026, archaic shows should not be maintained and that animal mistreatment should not be considered culture.
During the debate, representatives from the Anti-Bullfighting Platform of Mijas and Fuengirola, invited by Con Málaga, intervened. Adoración Ponferrada described bullfighting as “cruelty at its highest expression,” while Miriam Sierra González criticized the City Hall for allocating funds to a spectacle that only interests 18% of the population. María Ángeles García added that “the world would be better without bullfighting.”
The spokesperson for Vox, Yolanda Gómez, aligned with the PP and defended bullfighting as “collective identity and art,” reminding that it has been cultural heritage of Spain since 2013 and intangible cultural heritage of humanity by UNESCO. Gómez cited Lorca, Machado, Hemingway, Cela, and Borges as inspired by bullfighting, and criticized the left for wanting to “censor everything Spanish.” In a spat with Sguiglia, who is of Argentine origin, Gómez insinuated that he might have supported Argentina in the World Cup. Sguiglia responded that his home celebrated Spain's victory and that the team played very well, adding that Vox seemed uncomfortable because the best player, Lamine Yamal, is Muslim.
The PSOE, for its part, opted for abstention. Councillor Pablo Orellana acknowledged that the debate is not resolved even within his party, where there are colleagues for and against. “We abstain for the sake of coherence,” he said, although they voted in favour of one of the points that called for a survey of Málaga residents about their opinion on bullfighting. Teresa Porras opposed that consultation: “Policies should not be implemented based on surveys, but should be based on legality.” Ultimately, PP and Vox rejected all points of the motion.
At the same time, Con Málaga has also called for the urgent rehabilitation of an evacuated building on Cabriel Street, 27, in the La Palmilla neighbourhood. Sguiglia positioned himself in front of the building, which has 53 homes and has been abandoned for eight years since its eviction in 2018. The spokesperson criticized the PP government team for leaving a 13-storey building unused that could house homes for young people, the elderly, and families in temporary need of accommodation. “In the midst of a housing emergency, the City Hall keeps a building with capacity for 53 homes unused, reflecting the poor management and negligence of the PP,” he denounced.
The motion from Con Málaga regarding the La Palmilla building was not voted on in the council, but Sguiglia indicated that they will continue to press for the rehabilitation project to be reactivated. The spokesperson emphasized that the neighbourhood needs public policies that energize the cultural, community, and social fabric, and that the abandonment of the building is a sign of the poor management of the government team.
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