PM Pedro Sanchez says pro-Palestine protests bring 'pride' to Spain
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Madrid: Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said he feels “pride” over the pro-Palestine demonstrations that have disrupted the Vuelta a España cycling race.
The protests, targeting the Israel-Premier Tech team over Israel’s war on Gaza, have interrupted several stages of the 21-day tour and sparked doubts about whether the race could be completed.
In his first public comments on the protests, Sanchez praised both the athletes and the Spanish public. “I express recognition and full respect for the athletes, but also our admiration for a people like Spain’s which mobilises for just causes, like Palestine,” he said.
“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 defence of human rights,” he added at a Socialist Party rally in Malaga.
Authorities have deployed 1,100 police officers in Madrid ahead of the final stage of the race.
Pro-Palestinian protesters march during the final stage of the 2025 Vuelta a España, a 101 km race from Alalpardo to Madrid, on Sept. 14.
Spain’s Deputy Prime Minister Yolanda Diaz posted on Instagram that Israel “cannot compete in any event while it continues to commit a genocide” after the race was halted. She added, “Spanish society has given a lesson to the world by paralysing the Vuelta,” weeks after Israel barred her entry over her criticism of its actions in Gaza.
The conservative opposition Popular Party leader, Alberto Nunez Feijoo, criticised the protests on X, calling them a “shameful image” and saying, “Instead of ministers encouraging it, the government should condemn, denounce and prevent it.”
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar accused Sanchez of “encouraging the protesters to take to the streets” in Madrid through “his incitements,” AFP reported.