Pro-Palestine Protesters Shut Down Spain’s La Vuelta Cycling Race To Demand An Israeli Team Be Expelled
Protests calling for the Israel-Premier Tech team to be expelled from the race due to Israel’s genocide in Gaza had been ongoing since the start of La Vuelta in August.
Pro-Palestine protesters shut down Spain’s most prestigious cycling race, La Vuelta, to demonstrate against the Israeli team participating in the competition.
Protests calling for the Israel-Premier Tech team to be expelled from the race due to Israel’s genocide in Gaza had been ongoing since the start of La Vuelta in August, but the demonstrations intensified when the race reached Bilbao during the 11th stage on Wednesday, Sept. 3.
Hundreds of protesters had lined up the roads, chanting Pro-Palestine slogans and waving Palestinian flags and signs.
At the start of the stage, a group of protesters tried to unveil a pro-Palestine banner on the road in the race’s neutral zone, prompting officials to pause the race temporarily.
Later, some demonstrators broke through the barriers in the final stretch of the race to try to stop Israel-Premier Tech as police struggled to contain them.
Following the multiple disruptions, organizers were forced to end the race three kilometers before the finish line and did not name a winner, with times recorded at that point instead.
Gernika-Palestina, a Basque solidarity group for Palestine, which had called for Israel to withdraw, called the race’s neutralization a victory.
“There was a clear winner, and it was Palestine,” the group said.
"Consider if the values of La Vuelta are compatible with the participation of a team linked to a state that violates international law, that is perpetuating a genocide and massacring a defenseless population," Spain’s youth and children’s minister wrote to the race director, demanding La Vuelta to expel the Israeli team, according to Anadolu Agency.
Spain’s foreign minister had also voiced his support for expelling the Israeli team but said that the move is not up to the government.
However, Israel Premier Tech team has said it will continue racing, adding that “any other course of action sets a dangerous precedent in the sport of cycling”.
Organizers said “everyone has the right to protest” but warned about athletes’ safety.
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