Catalan pro-independence groups call for demonstrations during Tour de France opening stages

Two major Catalan pro-independence organizations have called for demonstrations during the opening stages of the 2026 Tour de France in Barcelona. The Catalan National Assembly (Assemblea) and Òmnium Cultural announced on Tuesday that they will organize demonstrations along the race route. The groups indicated that they do not intend to disrupt or interfere with the event itself, but plan to use the race's global television audience to highlight their cause.

The Tour de France is scheduled to start on July 4 with a time trial in Barcelona. The race will spend two more days in the region, with stage 2 running between Tarragona and Barcelona, followed by a stage 3 departure from Granollers.

Group leaders made it clear they plan to use the race's international media coverage to their advantage. "Òmnium is joining the effort to combine forces and turn the Tour’s passage through Catalunya into a major civic and democratic protest in favour of independence," they said in a joint statement.

"With this goal in mind, both organisations are already working on a proposal that could involve other national organisations such as the Council for the Republic and the Association of Municipalities for Independence, as well as local groups. The objective is to mobilise hundreds of volunteers and activists along the route to fill the roads with Catalan independence Estelada flags, banners, and messages supporting Catalunya's independence in front of millions of viewers around the world."

Assemblea and Òmnium Cultural have previously held protests during other major cycling events, including the Volta a Catalunya and the Vuelta a España. For the Tour de France, local branches are currently mapping out the route to find the most effective spots for their display.

"Teams from both organisations and their local branches are currently studying the sections of the route with the greatest television exposure and greatest public attendance in order to ensure a strong presence of pro-independence symbols during the Catalan stages," the statement continued.

They have also started a crowdfunding campaign to fund the manufacturing of protest materials. "At the same time, a crowdfunding campaign has been launched with the aim of raising up to €12,000 to produce large-format Estelada flags and banners that will be displayed at key points along the route. Assemblea and Òmnium call on citizens to actively participate in this exceptional mobilisation in order to take advantage of the international platform offered by the Tour de France and once again place the Catalan independence cause before the eyes of the world."

This is far from the first time the Catalan independence movement has turned to major cycling events to project its message. During the 2023 Vuelta a España, which also kicked off in Barcelona, Spanish police arrested four activists suspected of plotting to pour hundreds of liters of motor oil onto the road.

Additionally, the regional Volta a Catalunya has frequently served as a backdrop for political expression, where activists regularly line key mountain passes with giant banners and distribute thousands of Estelada flags to spectators at the finish lines.

The Catalan independence movement has a long history, punctuated in recent decades by independence referendums in 2014 and 2017. The political situation remains a central topic in the region, though recent polling shows a shift in public opinion, as the latest data indicates that 40.2% of voters in Catalonia support independence, while 51.5% are against it, and 8.2% remain undecided.