By Guillermo Martinez and Fernando Kallas
MADRID (Reuters) – Pro-Palestinian protests forced the Vuelta a Espana cycle race to be abandoned at its finale on Sunday, with Danish cyclist Jonas Vingegaard declared winner as police sought to quell demonstrations against an Israeli team’s participation.
Protesters chanting “they will not pass” overturned metal barriers and occupied the Vuelta (Tour of Spain) route at several points in Madrid as police attempted to push them back.
“The race is over,” said a spokesperson for the organisers, who also cancelled the podium ceremony, leaving Vingegaard celebrating in the back of his team car.
Earlier, Spain’s Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez expressed “admiration for the Spanish people mobilising for just causes like Palestine” by protesting during the race.
The demonstrations have targeted the Israel-Premier Tech team over Israel’s actions in Gaza. Some riders had threatened to quit last week as routes were blocked, causing some falls.
Israel’s war against Palestinian Islamist group Hamas has sparked protests globally and affected several sporting events.
Seven Israeli chess players withdrew from a Spanish tournament starting on Friday after organisers told them they would not be competing under their flag, citing the Gaza conflict and expressing solidarity with the Palestinians.
On Sunday in Madrid, more than 1,000 police officers were on duty as cyclists reached the final stage of the 21-day race – the biggest deployment since the Spanish capital hosted the NATO summit three years ago.
Police held back a crowd of hundreds bearing placards and waving Palestinian flags for several hours as the cyclists snaked their way through towns and villages towards Madrid.
As the riders drew closer to the capital, the demonstrators hurled plastic bottles and traffic cones, upended blue barriers and surged onto the road. Baton-wielding riot police fired smoke bombs to try to disperse them.
PM Sanchez has repeatedly clashed with Israel over its war in Gaza, describing it as genocide.
Spain, along with Ireland and Norway, last year recognised a Palestinian state, prompting an angry response from Israel, which said it amounted to a “reward for terrorism”.
This week, Sanchez announced a block on oil and arms to Israel. In response, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused his Spanish counterpart of antisemitism and making genocidal threats.
MADRID MAYOR BLAMES SANCHEZ
Madrid’s Mayor Jose Luis Martinez-Almeida blamed Sanchez.
“(It’s) violence that the prime minister is directly responsible for due to his statements today in the morning instigating the protests,” Martinez-Almeida said.
“Today is the saddest day since I became mayor of this great city.”
It is the first time one of cycling’s Grand Tours has been prevented from completing its final stage by political demonstrators since the Vuelta in 1978 was halted by Basque separatists in San Sebastian.
Health Minister Monica Garcia said the latest protests showed Spain was a “global beacon in the defence of human rights.”
“The people of Madrid join dozens of demonstrations across the country and peacefully bring to a halt the end of a cycling race that should never have been used to whitewash genocide,” Garcia said in a post on Bluesky.
A government source defended Sanchez’s comments, saying: “The prime minister has shown his admiration for the Spanish people for being brave when others look the other way from the genocide in Gaza.”
Israel’s nearly two-year-long campaign against Hamas has killed more than 64,000 people in Gaza, according to local authorities. It was prompted by Hamas’ October 7, 2023, attack on Israel that killed 1,200 people and the kidnapping of 251 hostages, according to Israeli figures.
(Reporting by Guillermo Martinez, Fernando Kallas, Graham Keeley and Inti Landauro; Writing by Aislinn Laing and Charlie Devereux; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)
