The anti-Zionist protests that paralyzed the final stage of the 2025 Vuelta a España in central Madrid have made the city the target of widespread criticism, especially from abroad. The episode has had an immediate echo in the international press, which agrees in underlining the seriousness of what happened and the negative impact it leaves on the image of a capital that, in the coming months, will host major sporting events of global coverage.

In this sense, some of the harshest epithets came from Belgian public broadcaster RTBF, which went so far as to call it an"international disgrace," while Sporza summed it up as if "chaos reigned in the streets of Madrid, where barriers were reduced to rubble. The Vuelta ends on a somber note." The harsh story is repeated in France. L'Équipe bluntly described it as follows:"Police charges, rubber bullets, barriers transformed into instruments of violence, the center of Madrid collapsed like the end of this frenetic 2025 Vuelta a España. The Vuelta a España ended in the worst possible way, without an end." Le Monde focused on the "
rarely seen scenes in the capital
", with"several thousand protesters" knocking down fences "just a few metres from the finish line" and invading the Gran Vía "under a hail of tear gas".

From the UK, The Guardian focused on the political angle:"The clashes occurred hours after Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez expressed his admiration for the pro-Palestinian protesters." A reading in tune with the messages of Israeli leaders, such as Gideon Saar, who wrote:" The pro-Palestinian mob destroyed the Vuelta Ciclista, an event that had always been a source of pride for Spain. [Pedro] Sánchez Castejón and his government, a disgrace for Spain."

The exchange of reproaches follows an escalating dispute that has led Israel to even revive references to 1492 to commemorate the expulsion of the Jews by the Catholic Monarchs. The Israeli press has echoed this sentiment with particularly harsh messages. In an interview with The Jerusalem Post, David Hatchwell—co-founder of the ACOM lobby in Spain and promoter of the musical Malinche—went so far as to call Spain a"corrupt government" and accuse Sánchez of "shamefully politicizing" the Vuelta Ciclista.

The immediate origin of the protests lies in the participation of the Israel-Premier Tech team, a professional squad with an Israeli license that competes on the international calendar. For years, pro-Palestinian groups have denounced their presence as part of a"sportwashing" strategy to improve Israel's image despite accusations of human rights violations in Gaza and the West Bank. Boycott attempts had already occurred in previous editions of the Vuelta, notably in Navarre and the Basque Country, but never to the point of forcing the cancellation of a final stage in Madrid.

The protesters' slogans insisted that this was not a rejection of cycling as a sport, but rather of the competition's"complicity" with a team identified with the Israeli state. The BDS movement (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) has made sport one of its most visible fronts of action, and what happened in Madrid has been presented by its promoters as a success in that strategy.

The concern now extends to the upcoming major events that the capital will host. The Champions League will feature, as every season, the possible presence of Israeli teams such as Maccabi Haifa or Maccabi Tel Aviv. Formula 1, which plans to open a street track in Madrid, has ties to Israeli companies and licensed drivers, such as Robert Shwartzman at Ferrari or Israel Start-Up Nation's collaborations with Williams. And the NFL, although without Israeli teams, will also be a media showcase that can be exploited by groups seeking visibility for their demands.

The succession of international headlines with words like"chaos," "shame," and "disgrace" illustrates the extent to which the suspension of the Vuelta a España has cast doubt on Madrid's ability to protect its major sporting events. The capital aspires to establish itself as a host of global events, but what happened this weekend has shown that anti-Zionist protests can occur anywhere where sport or entertainment has some kind of Israeli presence.