The Vuelta has just concluded as we know, but in Spain discussions continue, both publicly and in political circles, because in just over a month the new Tour de France will be presented and ASO is seeking certainties.

Indeed, the next edition of the Grande Boucle - has already been announced - will start from Barcelona and Catalonia. But precisely in this region and in the Basque Country, where independence supporters are most active, the ProPal protest has been, is, and will be at its peak.

What ASO is asking for are certainties, and what is lacking is time. Because politics, as we know, moves extremely slowly. Despite condemnations coming from the UN downwards, no nation, no entity, no organization has so far taken concrete measures against Israel: neither politics, nor sports, nor markets have done so.

But the Tour de France needs certainties and answers, it cannot simply say "let's wait and see what happens". And moreover, one wonders: could changing the nationality of the license and the jersey of the current Israel Premier Tech team - assuming Sylvan Adams accepts, which he has not done so far - be enough to solve the problem?

Barcelona's sports councilor, David Escudé, was clear: "The City Council will refuse to welcome an Israeli team at the start of the 2026 Tour de France, we want teams competing under that flag to be stopped".

The issue is complex and we certainly cannot dissect it in detail, just as the much-invoked UCI cannot make drastic decisions: the exclusion of Russian and Belarusian teams and national teams was decided by the IOC, the International Olympic Committee. And the UCI simply does not have the power to legislate in this sense: it would be like the Abruzzo region adopting a law that goes against Italian state law, such an initiative would be immediately blocked.

Only the IOC can intervene in this way, but like the rest of world organizations, it has so far decided nothing. Two years have passed since the start of hostilities in Palestinian territory, during which there has been an escalation of violence, and nothing has moved concretely in this sense: how can we think this will happen within a month, before the presentation of the 2026 Tour de France?

The hot potato thus remains in ASO's hands, which must decide whether to confirm the start from Barcelona or activate a plan B, clearly with not insignificant economic implications. A decision that is not easy to make, it resembles that old somewhat desperate saying that goes "however you do it, you'll be wrong".