{"id":420827,"date":"2025-09-13T10:13:19","date_gmt":"2025-09-13T10:13:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/420827\/"},"modified":"2025-09-13T10:13:19","modified_gmt":"2025-09-13T10:13:19","slug":"spains-vuelta-rides-into-storm-of-controversy-over-israeli-links-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/420827\/","title":{"rendered":"Spain\u2019s Vuelta rides into storm of controversy over Israeli links \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Spanish Vuelta<\/a> cycling race enters Madrid this weekend for its finale accompanied by an unprecedented security deployment over fears it will be disrupted by pro-Palestinian protesters.<\/p>\n

Up to 1,500 police will be on duty for the last two stages of this year\u2019s race, which begin in the mountains west of the capital on Saturday before culminating in central Madrid on Sunday. <\/p>\n

The Vuelta is one of a trio of prestigious three-week European road races, along with the Tour de France and the Italian Giro. But this year it has been overshadowed, and at times interrupted, by demonstrations in favour of the Palestinian people and against the involvement in the race of an Israeli team, Israel-Premier Tech.<\/p>\n

During the 11th stage, as it passed through the Basque city of Bilbao, stewards struggled to prevent protesters waving Palestinian flags from collapsing the barricades lining the route. The stage was suspended several kilometres before the finish line and no winner was declared. Last Sunday there were 10 arrests as the race went through Lugo, in Galicia, and two cyclists fell after colliding with a protester.<\/p>\n

The Spanish rider Javier Romo had to abandon the Vuelta because of his injuries.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are offering a sporting show and we should be an example for youngsters, but in the end another image is being given,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\"Pro-PalestiniansPro-Palestinians protesters demonstrate as cyclists compete during the Vuelta a Espana. Photograph: Miguel Riopa\/AFP via Getty Images <\/p>\n

Protesters have hacked the Vuelta\u2019s official radio channel to broadcast pro-Palestinian slogans. Tuesday\u2019s stage in Pontevedra, Galicia, was also curtailed due to security concerns.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a shame this has happened again,\u201d said the Danish leader of the race, Jonas Vingegaard. \u201cEveryone has a right to protest, but it\u2019s a shame that it has to happen here and in this way and that we can\u2019t finish the race.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The Israel-Premier Tech team, whose members have had police escorts during the race, has refused to withdraw. However, it has removed the word \u201cIsrael<\/a>\u201d from its riders\u2019 shirts, citing \u201cthe dangerous nature of some protests\u201d. The team is owned by Canadian-Israeli Sylvan Adams, a close friend of Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu<\/a>. <\/p>\n

After the shirt redesign announcement, Netanyahu praised Sylvan and the team \u201cfor not giving in to hate and intimidation\u201d, adding: \u201cYou make Israel proud!\u201d<\/p>\n

\"ProtestersProtesters wave Palestinian flags as Israel Premier Tech’s rider Nadav Raisberg competes during the Vuelta. Photograph: Miguel Riopa\/AFP via Getty Images <\/p>\n

Meanwhile, a Spanish judge has opened a preliminary investigation into whether hate crime charges can be brought against protesters.<\/p>\n

There are concerns that this weekend\u2019s final stages could face severe disturbances. The police deployment will be the largest Madrid has seen since the Nato summit in the Spanish capital in 2022 and the local and central governments appear to be preparing for the worst.<\/p>\n

\u201cCitizens have the right to protest, but that has to comply with security and not put at risk the safety of the cyclists or those who come to see them,\u201d said interior minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska.<\/p>\n

The cyclists appear to have been unsettled by the protests, with demonstrators reportedly throwing broken glass and nails at some riders.<\/p>\n

Iker Cama\u00f1o, of the Spanish Association of Professional Cyclists, said competitors \u201care very afraid\u201d, adding that \u201cit\u2019s difficult to ride like this because they are alert to what is happening away from the race\u201d.<\/p>\n

The backdrop to the drama of the Vuelta is an international dispute being played out between the left-wing Spanish government and Israel.<\/p>\n

\"ProtestersProtesters wave Palestinian flags as riders take the start of the 17th stage of the Vuelta a Espana. Photograph: Miguel Riopa\/AFP via Getty Images <\/p>\n

Earlier this month Spanish foreign minister Jos\u00e9 Manuel Albares said he believed Israel-Premier Tech should be barred from the Vuelta because of Israel\u2019s actions in Gaza<\/a>. On Monday the prime minister, Pedro S\u00e1nchez<\/a>, announced a series of measures his administration is taking against Israel for the \u201cgenocide\u201d it is committing.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Spanish government believes that it is one thing to protect your country and quite another to bomb hospitals and kill innocent boys and girls through hunger,\u201d he said. \u201cThat is not defending yourself, it\u2019s not even attacking. It is exterminating a defenceless people.\u201d<\/p>\n

S\u00e1nchez is one of Europe\u2019s more outspoken voices in criticising Israel and last year Spain, alongside Ireland and Norway, acknowledged a Palestinian state, drawing a fierce response from Tel Aviv. His latest initiative, which includes a weapons embargo, led to Israel barring two Spanish government ministers from the country. Madrid immediately responded by barring two Israeli ministers.<\/p>\n

Spanish public opinion appears to support S\u00e1nchez on this issue. Eighty-two per cent of Spaniards believe Israel is committing genocide, a recent poll by the Royal Elcano Institute think tank revealed, up from 71 per cent a year earlier. <\/p>\n

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While the government has presented a united front on the Gaza issue and the Vuelta race, the opposition has been more ambiguous. The leader of the conservative People\u2019s Party (PP), Alberto N\u00fa\u00f1ez Feij\u00f3o, has described Israel\u2019s actions in Gaza as \u201cunacceptable\u201d but he has not used the word \u201cgenocide\u201d.<\/p>\n

However, his party colleague, Isabel D\u00edaz Ayuso, the hard-line president of the Madrid region, has stridently supported Israel and has expressed no tolerance for those protesting during the cycling race.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe athletes\u2019 lives are under attack and freedom is being halted,\u201d she said. \u201c[The protests] are not about Gaza. They are trying to destroy the image of Spain in the eyes of the world.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Spanish Vuelta cycling race enters Madrid this weekend for its finale accompanied by an unprecedented security deployment…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":420828,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5312],"tags":[2000,299,10982,837,20418,104,123050],"class_list":{"0":"post-420827","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-spain","8":"tag-eu","9":"tag-europe","10":"tag-gaza-strip","11":"tag-israel","12":"tag-israel-hamas-conflict","13":"tag-spain","14":"tag-vuelta-a-espana"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115196461793751463","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/420827","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=420827"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/420827\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/420828"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=420827"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=420827"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=420827"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}