MADRID: The final stage of the Vuelta a Espana was cancelled on Sunday because of huge pro-Palestinian protests in Madrid.
Thousands of protesters gathered in the Spanish capital, invading the course where the race was due to pass in the center of Madrid, AFP journalists witnessed.
On Gran Via, where cyclists were due to pass multiple times, protesters knocked down barriers and marched into the road, some chanting for a boycott of Israel as green and red smoke filled the air.
Near Atocha, Madrid’s central train station, police charged demonstrators and fired tear gas, before letting them walk into the road.
Riders, around 56 kilometers from the finish of the race, came to a halt before the Vuelta was abandoned.
