{"id":138751,"date":"2025-09-15T11:24:07","date_gmt":"2025-09-15T11:24:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/138751\/"},"modified":"2025-09-15T11:24:07","modified_gmt":"2025-09-15T11:24:07","slug":"political-row-erupts-in-spain-after-vuelta-cycle-race-abandoned-amid-gaza-protests-spain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/138751\/","title":{"rendered":"Political row erupts in Spain after Vuelta cycle race abandoned amid Gaza protests | Spain"},"content":{"rendered":"

The premature and chaotic end of the Vuelta a Espa\u00f1a<\/a> cycle race has triggered a bitter political row in Spain, with opposition politicians accusing the prime minister, Pedro S\u00e1nchez, of causing the country \u201cinternational embarrassment\u201d by encouraging pro-Palestinian demonstrators to disrupt the event.<\/p>\n

The race\u2019s final stage was abandoned after groups protesting against the participation of the Israel-Premier Tech team swamped the finish line area and presentation podium in central Madrid on Sunday night.<\/p>\n

Although Israel-Premier Tech is a private team and not a state one, its presence in the race had led to a series of demonstrations<\/a>. Israel\u2019s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, had praised the team for \u201cnot giving in to hate and intimidation\u201d, adding that it had made Israel proud.<\/p>\n

The protests culminated with 100,000 demonstrators gathering for Sunday\u2019s rally. According to the Spanish government, 22 police officers were injured in clashes with protesters and two people were arrested.<\/p>\n

Speaking earlier on Sunday, S\u00e1nchez \u2013 who has been a vocal critic of Israel\u2019s conduct in Gaza, accusing it of perpetrating a genocide<\/a> against the Palestinians \u2013 praised both those taking part in the Vuelta and those taking part in the protests.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday the Vuelta a Espa\u00f1a<\/a> finishes and we show our absolute respect and recognition for the athletes,\u201d he told a crowd in M\u00e1laga.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut [we also show] our admiration for the Spanish people who mobilise for just causes such as Palestine. Today Spain<\/a> shines as an example and as a source of pride. It\u2019s [giving] an example to the international community by taking a step forward in defence of human rights.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hours later, as the Vuelta came to a scrappy and abrupt conclusion, the prime minister\u2019s opponents accused him of stirring up trouble and tarnishing Spain\u2019s global reputation.<\/p>\n

Alberto N\u00fa\u00f1ez Feij\u00f3o, the leader of the conservative People\u2019s party (PP), said the prime minister was \u201cproud of the behaviour of those few people who showed their support for Gaza<\/a> by throwing barriers at Polic\u00eda Nacional officers\u201d. He added: \u201cI defend freedom of expression, as long as it doesn\u2019t involve violence or riots. The government has allowed and induced the non-completion of La Vuelta, and thus, an international embarrassment that was televised around the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

Isabel D\u00edaz Ayuso, the populist PP president of the Madrid region, also put the blame squarely on S\u00e1nchez. \u201cWhen the prime minister of the nation encourages a boycott of the Vuelta a Espa\u00f1a in his own capital, he becomes directly responsible for every incident that occurs, whether the race is stopped or whether there is a single assault,\u201d she said. \u201cWhat damage to our sport and our country!\u201d<\/p>\n

The Israeli government, which has described S\u00e1nchez\u2019s stance on Gaza as a \u201ccontinuous anti-Israel and antisemitic attack\u201d, said the prime minister bore responsibility for Sunday\u2019s scenes.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe pro-Palestinian mob heard the incitement messages \u2013 and wrecked the La Vuelta cycling race,\u201d said Israel\u2019s foreign minister, Gideon Sa\u2019ar. \u201cThus, the sporting event that had always been a source of pride for Spain was cancelled. S\u00e1nchez and his government \u2013 a disgrace to Spain!\u201d<\/p>\n

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Last week, the Israeli government announced that two senior leftwing members of the S\u00e1nchez administration \u2013 the labour minister and deputy prime minister, Yolanda D\u00edaz, and the youth minister, Sira Rego \u2013 would be banned from entering Israel because of their criticisms of its conduct in Gaza<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A poll published in July suggests most Spanish people back the government\u2019s position. The survey<\/a>, by the Elcano Royal Institute thinktank, found that 82% of those polled thought Israel was committing genocide and 70% believed the EU should impose sanctions on Israel.<\/p>\n

Although some in the PP<\/a> have dismissed suggestions that Israel is committing genocide, the party\u2019s leader criticised Netanyahu\u2019s response to the atrocities of the 7 October attacks in his remarks on Sunday.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t support Hamas and I don\u2019t want their applause,\u201d said Feij\u00f3o. \u201cNor do I share the Israeli government\u2019s response to the terrorist attacks it suffered. The kidnapping and murder of innocent Israelis cannot be answered with more Palestinian civilian losses.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The premature and chaotic end of the Vuelta a Espa\u00f1a cycle race has triggered a bitter political row…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":138752,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[4985,101,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-138751","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cycling","8":"tag-cycling","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138751","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=138751"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138751\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/138752"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=138751"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=138751"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=138751"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}