Herribiltza has pointed out several reasons for denouncing that the Tour de France is not welcome in the Basque Country. These criticisms will be transferred to the roads in the first week of July on an eight-day cycling tour. Meetings have also been organised in the three capitals: Bilbao on 1 July, Donostia on 2 July and Baiona on 3 July. The tour will start and end in Bilbao and, under the direction of a bicycle witness that will change, the towns will travel. The witness is alternated between several popular movements.

Herribiltza was established at the Basque People’s Congress College in 2022 and is defined as: “An institution from all over the Basque Country that seeks to guarantee in our hands the power to decide on the lives of the Basques.” Several actions have been taken in recent months, such as the withdrawal of signals in French. Now they announce this other summer action.

In the presentation note of the tour, Herribiltza pointed out that the independence of Euskal Herria is the central axis in which he organized this initiative, among other things, “because the French authorities pisan Euskal Herria”. Among the reasons for rejecting the tour, the organizers stressed that the policy of panem et circenses is denounceable: “Give people food and games so they don’t pay attention to the serious problems and injustices of the world.”

They have also criticised the Alavese, Biscayan and Gipuzkoan institutions for their support for the Tour de France. They denounce that in total, the Basque Government, the Provincial Councils and the municipalities of San Sebastian, Vitoria and Bilbao will allocate EUR 14.2 million public.

They recall that the company in charge of the Tour has important annual economic benefits, “at the expense of the workers”, and consider that the advertising caravan they carry out in their own career is “shameful”: “160 advertising cars, 15 million distributed advertising objects, etc.”.

In addition to economic issues, Herribiltza has warned that such important events such as the Tour de France, the Vuelta, the Mundial and the Olympic Games generate pollution and climate warming, due to travel and consumption. They are called “irresponsibility.”

Citizens and agents have been called upon to take part in the bicycle tour and to contact those who wish to witness the bicycle. Here you can see all the programming.