Vuelta final stage abandoned amid pro-Palestine protest

MADRID: The final stage of the Vuelta a Espana was abandoned on Sunday because of huge pro-Palestinian protests in Madrid hours after Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez before the race began said that it filled him with “pride”.

Earlier, the protests, which have targeted the Israel-Premier Tech team over the devastating war in Gaza, disrupted several stages of one of cycling’s three grand tours and cast doubt on whether the 21-day race could be completed.

Thousands of protestors gathered in the Spanish capital, invading the course where the race was due to pass in the centre of Madrid, AFP journalists witnessed.

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On Gran Via, where cyclists were due to pass multiple times, protestors 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 kilometres from the finish of the race, came to a halt before the Vuelta was abandoned.

The protests have also led to moments of tension in the three-week grand tour, including crashes.

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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.

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In his first public comments on the debate, Sanchez expressed his “recognition and full respect for the athletes, but also our admiration for a people like Spain’s which mobilises 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.