It all started with them: the activists from Figueres who stopped the Vuelta a España.

Fig treesOn August 27th, five pro-Palestinian activists from Alt Empordà blocked the Israeli team participating in the Vuelta a España. It happened during a team time trial in Figueres and was the first in a series of protests against the presence of the Israel Premier Tech team in the race, actions that continued at every stage until the final day. "When we found out the Vuelta was coming, we decided to take some completely peaceful action, and luckily in Figueres it was a team time trial. That made it very easy for us to block only the Zionist team, the Israeli team. We didn't want to cause any problems for the cyclists, Oliver, or anyone else," explains the young activist, who has been involved in various causes for many years. The action, however, became the spark for a widespread protest throughout the country. It ended up paralyzing the entry of the Vuelta into MadridBut in practical terms, the Figueres blockade is currently the only boycott against the Israeli team's participation that the Vuelta a España organizers have reported. It resulted in one arrest: that of Esteve Robleda i Sastre, an educational psychologist. In a city with few demonstrations, dozens of people gathered in front of the Mossos d'Esquadra police station in the capital of the Alt Empordà region to demand his release. On Saturday, a fundraising event for Palestine was held in Figueres, both in case the complaint ends up in court and to support the Palestinian people. It was also an opportunity to learn firsthand how the protest against the Israel Premier Tech team's participation in the cycling competition was organized.

The police response

The demonstration against the Israeli team's participation had been planned, but it wasn't until three days prior that the specific action of blocking the road at another location was decided upon, taking advantage of the fact that "most of the police were focused on controlling" the protest at a different point in Figueres, explains Jordi Salvat i Alabart, a mathematician and one of the five participants. "Besides us, there was a whole group behind us who made the banner and were there to support us," adds Robleda i Sastre, the only person arrested during the protest. In his opinion, the arrest was due to "malpractice" by one of the Mossos d'Esquadra officers. "A few days before, we decided on the best spot so that the police and the cyclists would have time to see us and stop, and so that no one would get hurt. It was the reckless actions of a Mossos officer that caused the problem. He didn't stop when he saw the banner and kept going," he explains. "A police officer was holding my hand. I didn't push him because, as has been said, the action was peaceful. He was trying to arrest me without getting off the motorcycle, and then, logically, the motorcycle fell and landed in my direction. It was malpractice on his part, and he got stressed. He grabbed me forcefully, and once I was on my feet, he handcuffed me and told me I was under arrest," Robleda adds.

Roller coaster of emotions

The five activists explain that they were "perfectly coordinated" and had a "pre-arranged phrase" ready to act, as they calculated that the Israeli team would arrive "in four minutes" and the police would intervene. "It was a crazy rollercoaster ride because first there was the nerves of waiting to be told when it was our turn to block the road. It's scary because four police officers come and you don't know what's going to happen. We looked for a place where there were people and it was in front of a house," Salvat recalls.

"Then there was the awful moment when they arrested Esteban. But the work had already been done and the consequences, well, whatever they came, came," Salvat says, resigned. "When they took him away we were devastated. But we had already spoken with Alerta Solidaria and they told us to calm down, and while we were heading towards Figueres we were already feeling the impact of the action." "They sent me a message saying that we were going out to the New York Times"Olivan says. "We also go out to On Jazeera and other international media. This encouraged us because going five and coming back four is a real blow," says Salvat.

The activists highly value the public's response. "Within a short time, there were about 50 people in front of the Mossos d'Esquadra police station, and they stayed until midnight because Esteve wasn't released until the next day. It was a very powerful collective experience," Oliván affirms. "Figueres is a city that's difficult to mobilize. Many people saw the images and came to support me. But regardless of whether I was the one arrested or someone else, people would have responded the same way because the mobilization for the Palestinian cause is very powerful," Robleda concludes.

Complaint and act of support

Although the Figueres incident was the only one reported by the Vuelta a España, the activists claim they haven't received any official notification. They believe that the daily reality of events led the race organizers to abandon their legal action. "It's a joke to file one or more complaints every day; I trust they'll withdraw it," exclaims Oliván. The following day in Olot, an attempt was made to stop the race start. "I don't think our action triggered the others that followed; those would have happened in one way or another, but I think it helped a lot in explaining them. The fact that we were able to stop the Israeli team brought to light the participation of a team from a genocidal state that was carrying out [these actions]. sportswashing And it certainly made the others more powerful. Perhaps we did contribute to each subsequent protest escalating,” says Salvat. “There is a State Platform for the Boycott of Sports in Israel, and many of these protests were coordinated through it,” adds Oliván. The event, a specialist in imperialism and colonialism, featured contributions from Mahmud Shiha, a Gazan activist who has lived in Bordils for a year, and Cristina Mas, deputy head of the International section of the newspaper ARA, an expert on Palestine and author of the book Palestine from withinShiha said, "If there is no Palestinian land, where will the Palestinian state be?" and Mas added that every time he returns to the West Bank, "I don't recognize it, because of the expansion of settlements." Mas also noted that "Israel is experiencing international isolation like never before."