On the 15th stage of the Spanish Vuelta, protesters with Palestinian flags positioned themselves for maximum visibility
Some even disrupted the race, causing crashes. Protests have targeted an Israeli-owned team, with over 20 people detained in recent days
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.
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 UN court for permission to join South Africa’s case accusing Israel of genocide.
The Vuelta protesters argue that if Russian teams have been banned from international sporting events for the war in Ukraine, then Israeli teams should likewise be punished.
Spain’s government agrees.
Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares said he would support the Israeli-owned team’s expulsion from the race, while government spokesperson Pilar Alegría, who is also minister of sports and education, said neutrality is no longer possible in the face of the death and destruction in Gaza.
“What we are seeing at the protests, in my opinion, is logical,” Alegría told Cadena Ser radio on Sept. 11. “Sports cannot be isolated from the world that surrounds them.”
For the Vuelta’s security detail, it was logistically impossible to lock down the entire route through its twisting roads, much of which is lined by forest. Large groups have gathered in towns and protesters have jumped out of cover to block the path of riders, causing two athletes to crash, although it’s unclear if that was the protesters’ intention. Neither of the riders who crashed was on the Israeli team. The cyclists participating in the race voted Wednesday that they would quit if their safety was again put at risk.