This start of the Tour of Spain is decidedly agitated, between intense rain and wind, nails on the roads and criticized organization. The national police revealed in a press release on Tuesday that four Catalan separatists had been arrested on Saturday. They are suspected of having tried to sabotage the Vuelta.
The group were arrested in the woods near Suria, in northeastern Catalonia, as they were about to spill 400 liters of a “liquid similar to motor oil”, contained in two barrels, on the road.
The Vuelta considered “colonialist”
The suspects are supporters of Catalan independence, according to the far-left separatist group Alerta Solidaria on X (formerly Twitter), which fiercely opposes the passage of the cycling event through the region, calling it “colonialist “.
The drums and the pipe that connected them to the highway “were hidden in vegetation, making them difficult to detect,” the statement added. The targeted section was taken on Monday by the third stage of the Vuelta, a 158.5 kilometer journey linking Suria to Arinsal in Andorra.
The four men were indicted for membership of a criminal group, disturbing public order and crimes against the environment. They left free after appearing in court but were prohibited from approaching the roads taken by the route of the cycle race, their lawyer Eva Pous told the Catalan media.