San Francisco Frontiers - Pro-Palestinian protests rock Spain's Vuelta cycling race

The demonstrations, fuelled by anger over Israel's military campaign in Gaza, have targeted the Israel-Premier Tech team at each stage of this year's three-week race.

Demonstrators have lined roads with red, green, black and white Palestinian flags, protestors have attempted to lie in the road and, at times, forced riders to swerve or stop.

On Wednesday, organisers were forced to cut short the 11th stage in Bilbao -- the financial capital of Spain's northern Basque Country -- by three kilometres after clashes erupted between protesters and police near the finish line.

Many Basques see parallels between the Palestinian struggle for statehood and their own long-standing nationalist aspirations.

"The Basque Country has once again shown itself as a global reference in the fight for rights, solidarity and the freedom of peoples," said Basque independence leader Arnaldo Otegi after Wednesday's protest.

But support for Palestinians is easy to find across the rest of Spain as well, helping fuel the protests which have been larger than those this year at the Tour de France and the Giro d'Italia, cycling's two other big races.

- 'Protesting louder' -

Socialist Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez's leftist coalition government has taken one of Europe's strongest pro-Palestinian stances, straining ties with Israel.

Spain and Israel only established diplomatic relations in 1986, decades after most of Europe.

Israel no longer has an ambassador in Madrid following months of clashes over Gaza.

In contrast, the Palestinian cause has long had many followers in Spain, especially on the left.

Palestinian flags are often seen on balconies and at town festivals.

"Our country is protesting louder and more insistently than the other European partners, not to mention the Arab neighbours of the Gaza Strip, who remain fairly silent," read an article published Thursday in daily newspaper La Vanguardia.

Israel-Premier Tech has become the focal point of many demonstrations.

Protesters dressed in black and carrying dolls representing dead children have attempted to block riders, sometimes during high-speed descents.

Italy's Simone Petilli crashed Tuesday after encountering one such protest.

Race officials have said the Israeli team's withdrawal could reduce tensions but that they cannot expel it. The team insists it will not pull out.

- 'Lesson in humanity' -

The protests have not generated major controversy. Some far-left members of the government have praised them, with Youth Minister Sira Rego calling them a "lesson in humanity".

Deputy Prime Minister Yolanda Diaz praised Spain's "commitment in the face of genocide".

Still, other officials urged protesters to avoid endangering the race.

"Demonstrations cannot put at risk the development of a sporting event," Social Security Minister Elma Saiz said on national television Thursday.

Protests are planned along much of the route through September 14, when the peloton is scheduled to arrive for the final stage in Madrid -- another hotspot for Palestinian solidarity.

If La Vuelta is suspended because of the protests, it would be the 11th time it was interrupted.

The event was called off four times owing to Spain's 1930s civil war, twice because of World War II in the 1940s, and on four occasions in the 1950s due to economic hardship during General Francisco Franco's dictatorship.

The war in Gaza was triggered by an unprecedented cross-border attack by Palestinian militant group Hamas into Israel on October 7, 2023, which resulted in the death of some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of official figures.

Palestinian militants also seized 251 hostages, with 47 still held in Gaza, including 25 the Israeli army says are dead.

Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed more than 63,000 Palestinians, mostly civilians, according to figures from Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry which the UN considers reliable.

U.Campbell--SFF