Bullfighting returns to Bogota amid protests

BOGOTA — Hundreds of protesters are harassing spectators making their way to a bullfight ring in Colombia’s capital for the first such events in four years.

Some of the protesters are shouting “murderers” and spitting at spectators as police in riot gear try to create a corridor through the crowd.

Bogota’s previous leftist mayor banned bullfighting in 2012. But Colombia’s constitutional court later overturned the ban, ruling that it was part of Colombia’s cultural heritage and couldn’t be blocked.

Bogota’s 1930s-era brick bullring received a major cleanup ahead of Sunday’s reopening. Organizers say that for every dollar in profit about a third goes to the city government.