Spain’s Minister of Education and Sport, Pilar Alegría, said late on Wednesday that Israeli teams should face the same sporting bans that were imposed on Russian sides in 2022, after Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, pointing to what she described as a ‘double standard’.
Her comments come amid mounting protests over the participation of the Israel-Premier Tech cycling team in La Vuelta, one of the sport’s grand tours. The Spanish government has repeatedly condemned Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, calling it ‘a genocide’. ALSO READ: Spain-Israel rift widens as Madrid bars far-right ministers, recalls ambassador.
Israel-Premier Tech is a privately funded team, backed by billionaire Israeli-Canadian property developer Sylvan Adams, and not an official state team. Even so, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has praised the riders for staying in La Vuelta despite the widespread demonstrations.
‘It is difficult to explain and understand that there is a double standard,’ Alegría told Cadena SER radio.
‘Given that there has been such a massacre, a genocide, such an absolutely terrible situation we are living through day-by-day, I would agree that the international federations and committees should take the same decision as in 2022,’ she continued.
‘No team, no club from Russia participated in an international competition, and when the individuals participated they did it under a neutral flag and without a national anthem.’ ALSO READ: Pedro Sánchez: ‘Israel should not be allowed to compete in the Eurovision’.
Alegría said she would prefer to see La Vuelta’s organisers prevent Israel-Premier Tech from racing, but acknowledged that such a ruling would have to come from cycling’s governing body, the UCI.
La Vuelta has already been disrupted by protests. Stage 11 and Stage 16 were cut short during competition, and Thursday’s Stage 18 time trial has been shortened in advance due to security concerns. ALSO READ: 11th stage of Spain’s ‘La Vuelta’ cut short due to pro-Palestinian protesters.
Alegría voiced her wish for the race to run its full course, with the final stage in Madrid on Sunday expected to attract more demonstrations.
‘It would not be good news if the race cannot finish,’ she said. ‘However what we’re seeing these days with the protests is in my opinion logical.’
‘(The protests) are a clear representation of what the people feel, sport cannot be distanced from the world that surrounds it.’
Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s left-leaning coalition government has taken one of the strongest pro-Palestinian lines in Europe, a stance that has deepened tensions with Israel. ALSO READ: Spain imposes permanent weapons ban on Israel, among 8 other measures ‘to stop genocide’ in Gaza.
Israel began its assault on Gaza in October 2023 after Hamas launched an unprecedented cross-border attack that killed 1,219 people, most of them civilians, according to official figures.
Since then, Israeli strikes have left at least 64,600 Palestinians dead – again, mostly civilians – based on numbers from Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry, which the UN has deemed credible.
‘(Israel) have killed more than 60,000 people, children, babies starving to death, hospitals destroyed,’ Alegría added. ‘So it is important that sport, given this situation, takes a position at least similar to what it did against Russia.’
ALSO READ: Spain joins international condemnation of Israel’s plans to take over Gaza City.
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🚨 💼 Pilar Alegría niega presiones del Gobierno a la Vuelta para expulsar al equipo de Israel y califica de “lógicas” las protestas pro-Palestina
🗣️ “El objetivo es conciliar el derecho a la manifestación con la seguridad de aficionados y deportistas”https://t.co/tb9cjJPILb
— El Larguero (@ellarguero) September 11, 2025
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