Hotel booking portals have a spectacular career in Bilbao in the latest semanas.Tanto on Booking as in e-dreams, it is indifferent, you will find nothing less than 200, 300 or 500 euros. The Tour has arrived in the city of Puppy and Guggenheim a long time ago, and especially the luxury hotel multinationals are beginning to see its benefits.

The head of the Area of Economic Development, Trade, Tourism and Employment of the City Council of Bilbao, Xabier Ochandiano, explained to the newspaper Deia that in the coming days the hotels can have a “technical” attraction, that is, there will be no rooms throughout the city.

Overnight prices in hotel rooms such as Carlton, NH, Ercilla or Catalonia often exceed what a normal pensioner can receive in a month. You would need your full salary and that of all your roommates, if you like, to pay one of those rooms. In Catalonia, in Gran Vía, for example, sleeping in front of the Guggenheim costs EUR 3,381. Yellow jersey for him.

In addition to hotels, restaurants are also playing a counterclockwork to fill the catampada. The journal El Correo has been recognized by the luxury chefs bilbaínos. I mean, Michelin star restaurants have long waiting lists.

Public institutions have made every effort to make the most of the Tour, which has become a big sporting event, and it is only in the media. In Hor Dago-El Salto, Ahoztar Zelaieta explained that the Basque Government, the Provincial Council of Bizkaia and the City of Bilbao have awarded EUR 12 million to the organization of the French bike tour Amaury Sport Organitation for logistical tasks and have signed other contracts that have been “hidden”. A total of over EUR 14 million.

Amaury Sport Organitation not only organizes the Tour, but also the Dakar rally and other sports events, and major media like l’Équipe are in your hands, according to Zelaieta. If public money could be counted by drums, how much water will be put in the head this weekend on the roads of the Basque Country?

“No Tour”

Not everyone wins, and not everyone wins on the tour. The hotel and catering staff in Bizkaia are on strike on Thursday and Friday, convened by the unions ELA, LAB, CCOO and UGT. The call affects 22,000 workers in bars, restaurants and hotels, whose objectives include the renewal of the collective agreement that has expired since 2020 and the recovery of purchasing power lost by inflation.

“There is no Tours,” said the workers – the Ertzainas are not the only ones who can stop the race – and concentrations are being held on the hotel portals. The intention is to make a protest on Friday, a few hours before the tour.

“All I ask is that the rest of the riders be respected,” says Christian Prudhomme, director of the Tour, in an interview with Berria and Naiz: “They cannot sleep badly before a good exit.”

Other cyclists, in this case riders operating in the delivery area, are demanding decent work rights and their inclusion in the hospitality agreement. Bike dealers working for platforms like Delivero or Glovo, as well as those working in fast food companies, are claiming in recent weeks that they “need such protection.”

They're not dressed in yellow, but those who do it all year round with those gloves or with the yellow backpack, how many minutes will you have on the TV screen to explain your claims?