Protests against Israeli team intensify at Spain’s La Vuelta cycling race

The three-week race, held from Aug. 23 to Sept. 14, has been marked by almost daily anti-Israel demonstrations since it entered Spain from Italy and France on Aug. 27.

In the latest rally, thousands of protesters in Belagua, Navarra, waved Palestinian flags, carried banners reading “No to genocide” and attempted to block riders from the Israeli team.

Israel-Premier Tech is owned by businessman Sylvan Adams, an ally of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Police intervened, and security around the race was tightened.

On Wednesday, the event will pass through Bilbao in the Basque Country, where more protests are expected.

Spain’s Youth and Children’s Minister Sira Rego urged race director Javier Guillen to expel the Israeli team from La Vuelta and allow demonstrations to proceed.

“The real violence is not on the streets of our cities or on the banners of our young people; instead, it is in the daily tragedies being suffered by the Palestinian population under occupation and siege,” she wrote in a letter she shared on social media.

“Consider if the values of La Vuelta are compatible with the participation of a team linked to a state that violates international law, that is perpetuating a genocide and massacring a defenseless population,” she added.

Civil society groups in Spain have also launched a campaign arguing that Israel should be barred from international competitions while accused of committing war crimes and genocide in Gaza.

The Israeli army, rejecting international calls for a ceasefire, has pursued its war in the Gaza Strip since October 2023, killing more than 63,600 Palestinians.

Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice over its war on the enclave.