2023-08-29 15:07:50
The suspects, arrested by the Spanish police on Tuesday August 28, were planning to pour motor oil on part of the route taken by the runners.
The peloton of the Tour of Spain has undoubtedly avoided a beautiful pileup in Catalonia. Four Catalan separatists were arrested on Saturday August 26, suspected of having tried to sabotage a stage of the 78th edition of the Vuelta, one of the prestigious Grand Tours of cycling with the Tour de France and the Giro d’Italia, while they were considering pouring motor oil on part of the route the riders took.
The group were arrested in the woods near Suria, in the north-eastern region of Catalonia, as they were about to spill 400 liters of a “liquid similar to motor oil”, contained in two drums, on the road, the national police said on Tuesday August 29 in a press release.
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.
left free
The suspects are supporters of Catalan independence, according to far-left separatist group Alerta Solidaria on X (formerly Twitter), which fiercely opposed the Vuelta’s passage through the region, calling it “colonialist”.
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.
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