Protests targeting an Israeli-owned team have seized the limelight at Spain’s version of the Tour de France. The team under fire issued a statement saying that quitting the race is out of the question.
As an alderperson in northwestern Spain, Rosana Prieto tends to the running of her tiny village and is far removed from major cities, often rocked by protests over geopolitical issues. But with one of the world’s biggest cycling races coursing through the bucolic hills nearby, she and hundreds of like-minded townspeople sensed a chance to make their small voices heard, denouncing Israel’s military campaign in Gaza.
Palestinian flags in hand, they stood precisely where they knew the television cameras would broadcast their message to the world: the last turn before the finish line of the 15th stage, as cyclists of the Spanish Vuelta whirred past. Further up the road, a protester carrying a Palestinian flag got too close to the speeding peloton and caused a pair of cyclists to crash.
Protests targeting an Israeli-owned team have repeatedly seized the limelight at the Vuelta, Spain’s version of the Tour de France, in which over 180 cyclists pedal 3,100 kilometers (1,900 miles) through rural Spain’s sleepy back-roads. Five of the last 10 days of racing have been either cut short or interrupted, with over 20 people detained by police.
Israel’s 23-month military grind into Palestinian territory, launched in response to Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, deadly attack on Israel, had already enraged many Spaniards, including its outspoken left-wing government. The protests on the sidelines of the Vuelta have earned the government’s tacit endorsement and catalyzed nudging it toward staking out one of the strongest positions against Israel of any European nation since the sustained military operation began.
« The protests were born from the idea that our only chance to defend human rights regarding Israel is the Spanish Vuelta », Prieto, 48, told The Associated Press by phone. « It is an international spotlight for us to say that we are against what Israel is doing. »
Israel has defended its military actions in Gaza and accused Spain of standing with Hamas.
The war has so far killed over 64,700 people in the Gaza Strip, according to the territory’s health ministry, as famine grips its largest city.Spain pressures for Israeli team’s exclusion
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez joined Ireland and Norway in recognizing a Palestinian state last year, and Spain became the first European country to ask a U.N. court for permission to join South Africa’s case accusing Israel of genocide.
