https://arab.news/2qtm7
- Various stages of the Vuelta had been shortened because of protests, largely against the Israel-Premier Tech team’s participation
- Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Sunday said pro-Palestinian protests that have rocked the Vuelta a Espana in Madrid filled him with “pride”
MADRID: The final stage of the Vuelta a Espana was cancelled on Sunday because of huge pro-Palestinian protests in Madrid.
Thousands of protesters gathered in the Spanish capital, invading the course where the race was due to pass in the center of Madrid, AFP journalists witnessed.
On Gran Via, where cyclists were due to pass multiple times, protesters knocked down barriers and marched into the road, some chanting for a boycott of Israel as green and red smoke filled the air.
Near Atocha, Madrid’s central train station, police charged demonstrators and fired tear gas, before letting them walk into the road.
Riders, around 56 kilometers from the finish of the race, came to a halt before the Vuelta was abandoned.
Various stages of the Vuelta had been shortened because of protests, largely against the Israel-Premier Tech team’s participation.
The protests have also led to moments of tension in the three-week grand tour, including crashes.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said before racing began on Sunday that the protests have filled him with “pride.” He expressed his “recognition and full respect for the athletes, but also our admiration for a people like Spain’s which mobilizes for just causes, like Palestine.”
“Spain today shines as an example and as a source of pride, an example to an international community where it sees Spain taking a step forward in the defense of human rights,” he told a Socialist party gathering in Malaga.
Several members of Spain’s leftist government have publicly supported the movement in a country where backing for the Palestinian cause is strong.
Authorities ramped up security for the final stage in Madrid ahead of the expected large protests but could not stop the race from being abandoned.