The Spanish round will crown its winner for the first time in Granada, a city that the organization considers "a magnificent setting" for its heritage and tourist projection. The outcome will come a year after protests over Gaza prevented the completion of the last stage in Madrid, which this September will be focused on the debut of Formula 1.
The Vuelta a España left this year from Monaco, among some of the most recognizable settings of the Principality, and will finish three weeks later under the gaze of the Alhambra. Granada will host the conclusion of the Spanish round for the first time in its history on September 13, with a final stage designed to traverse some of the main arteries of the city before crowning the winner at the Paseo del Salón. It will also be an international showcase for a province that has bet on using cycling to project its heritage, landscapes, and tourist offerings to millions of viewers.
It is not an improvised finish nor a solution caused by the impossibility of finishing in Madrid. The Vuelta wanted Granada.
Javier Guillén, general director of the race, clarified this past August on Cadena SER when explaining how the decision was made. The organization had already communicated to Madrid that it would not always finish there when "the opportunity to finish in Granada arose." The subsequent coincidence with the Spanish Grand Prix of Formula 1, which Madrid will celebrate that same weekend, made "everything coincide positively," but it was not the reason that led to choosing the Andalusian city.
The organization itself has summarized the route of 2026 with an image that well explains the bet: "From the Casino of Monaco to the Alhambra of Granada". Guillén presented the edition highlighting its international and Mediterranean character and placed the finish in "a unique enclave like the Alhambra, the red fortress of Granada."
Granada, much more than a finish line
Granada knows La Vuelta well. The race has arrived in the city 20 times, but had never reserved for it the privilege of crowning the overall classification winner. This year will be different.
The choice has a sporting dimension, but also a tourist one. The broadcast of a major cycling tour turns roads, towns, monuments, and landscapes into part of the spectacle for hours. And Granada offers a combination especially recognizable outside of Spain: the Alhambra, the historic center, and Sierra Nevada.
The Diputación has openly assumed that objective. Its president, Francis Rodríguez, has defined the presence of La Vuelta as a "firm and determined bet" to position Granada in major international competitions and maintains that the route will allow showing "the wealth of heritage, landscape, and sports" of the province to the world.
It will not only be the capital. Granada concentrates three stages of the edition. Stage 13 will depart from Almuñécar, cross Los Guájares, the Valle de Lecrín, El Temple, and the Poniente, and will finish in Loja. The last two stages will return to the province to decide the race. (dipgra.es)
The penultimate stage will start from the Castle of La Calahorra and will finish at the Collado del Alguacil after crossing mountainous terrain that may be decisive for the general classification. The celebration in Granada will arrive the next day.
The institutional strategy is thus summarized between two images with enormous international potential: from the Castle of La Calahorra to the Alhambra.
Five steps through the heart of Granada
The last stage will have 112 kilometers and is conceived so that the city is much more than the place where the finish banner is placed.
After passing through several municipalities in the metropolitan area, the peloton will enter Granada and cross Camino de Ronda, Méndez Núñez, the Constitution Avenue, Gran Vía de Colón, Reyes Católicos, and Acera del Darro, among other streets. (lavuelta.es)
The finish line will be at the Paseo del Salón, but the cyclists will not cross it just once. They will do it five times.
Between each crossing, the route will take the peloton through the Paseo del Generalife, outside the Alhambra, before returning to the center. The last laps will also include Recogidas and Acera del Darro. The organization estimates the final arrival around 7:00 PM. (lavuelta.es)
The circuit even introduces a sports difference compared to the traditional finish in Madrid.
Guillén has explained to AS that it will not be "the typical circuit for the sprinter". The four crossings around the Alhambra incorporate an additional difficulty and open the possibility that the last stage will have a less predictable outcome than the usual completely flat urban circuit. (as.com)
Granada will thus have for several hours one of the best promotional tools that international sport offers: the cameras following the peloton as it crosses some of the most recognizable spaces in the city.
The eighth city that will crown the winner of La Vuelta
The finish also has historical value.
Granada will become the eighth Spanish city to host the final finish line of La Vuelta. Previously, Madrid, Bilbao, San Sebastián, Miranda de Ebro, Salamanca, Jerez de la Frontera, and Santiago de Compostela did so. (lavuelta.es)
Madrid has ended up becoming the usual setting. Since 1986, as the organization itself recalls, the race had only concluded in the capital or in Santiago de Compostela. (lavuelta.es)
This predominance explains why the Castellana, Cibeles, and the streets of the center are part of the imagery of the last stages of La Vuelta. But it does not make the Madrid finish a requirement. The organization wants to reserve the possibility of bringing the conclusion to other places, and Granada will be the demonstration this year.
"We told Madrid that we would not always finish in Madrid," explained Guillén on SER. The opportunity in Granada allowed to fulfill, in his own words, "the dream of finishing in Granada". (cadenaser.com)
The memory of Madrid 2025
The decision comes, inevitably, with the memory of what happened a year earlier.
La Vuelta 2025 was marked for a good part of its route by protests against the participation of the Israel-Premier Tech team and by the Israeli offensive in Gaza. The mobilizations accompanied the race for days and ended up altering several stages.
One of the first important images occurred in Bilbao.
On September 3, the incidents forced a modification of the finish of the eleventh stage. Before the race, the mayor of Bilbao, Juan Mari Aburto, had expressly defended the right to a "peaceful" protest against what he described as the "atrocious genocide in Gaza," but had asked to avoid "uncivil" behaviors. He also highlighted then that La Vuelta was a showcase to show a "modern and attractive" city. (deia.eus)
After the incidents, his assessment was much harsher.
Aburto supported the decision to advance the finish for the safety of the riders and lamented that the actions of some of the protesters had harmed the image of Bilbao. "I accept civic protests but not uncivil, violent, and dangerous behaviors," he declared the next day.
From Bilbao to Mos: a race increasingly difficult to protect
The problem did not end there.
The stage 16 was scheduled to arrive at the Alto de Castro de Herville, in Mos. Before the peloton arrived, the mayor, Nidia Arévalo, had asked pro-Palestinian groups to express their demands without blocking the passage of the runners.
Her position was very similar to the one defended days earlier in Bilbao: showing flags and protesting, yes; putting cyclists at risk, no. "A protest cannot endanger the safety of cyclists," Arévalo stated on Cadena SER.
The stage also could not be completed according to the initial plan.
By then, the problem had ceased to be episodic. The organization faced each day not only concerned with the competition but also with the possibility that a mobilization could prevent reaching the finish line.
Guillén resisted giving up Madrid
Javier Guillén maintained a clear position during those days: La Vuelta wanted to finish.
After the previous incidents, the race director appeared publicly to ask for collaboration and reminded that blocking the route could put the runners at risk. Five days before the last stage, he assured that the organization would move forward and ruled out preparing an alternative to Madrid.
The participation of Israel-Premier Tech also did not depend on La Vuelta, as he repeatedly defended. Guillén explained that the rules of admission and exclusion corresponded to the International Cycling Union and that the Spanish organization had to act within that framework. (cadenaser.com)
The race finally arrived in Madrid on September 14.
But it could not finish as planned.
The afternoon when families did not see the cyclists arrive
Thousands of people had come to the center of Madrid to attend the closing of La Vuelta. Families, fans, and children occupied different points of the circuit for hours waiting for the peloton's passage and the final celebration.
At the same time, pro-Palestinian protests were gaining presence in Gran Vía, Callao, Atocha, Neptuno, and Cibeles.
The situation ended up overflowing. Protesters occupied different points of the roadway, barriers fell, and the police intervened while the organization sought a way to maintain the race. The images captured that day showed fans leaving the route and families who had waited for the arrival returning without having seen the peloton pass. El País recounted, among other scenes, that of a father leaving Gran Vía with his son dressed in a cyclist's jersey.
The organization ended up canceling the stage. RTVE placed the decision when there were still 56 kilometers to the finish line, after the invasions of the roadway made it impossible to guarantee safety.
There was no finish that Madrid expected. Nor the conventional ceremony before the public.
Jonas Vingegaard won La Vuelta, but the sports closure of the three weeks of competition was conditioned by what happened in the streets.
"That cannot be repeated"
The next day, Guillén appeared to explain what happened.
The director of La Vuelta defended the right to protest, but was very critical of the actions that had prevented the development of the competition. "I regret and condemn what happened in the last stage", he stated before qualifying what happened as "unacceptable." (cadenaser.com, rtve.es)
Guillén also focused on the fans.
"The right protects those who compete, work, or attend the competition," he pointed out, after reminding the "numerous public" that had accompanied the race during the three weeks and that only wanted to enjoy cycling. (cadenaser.com)
His conclusion about Madrid was forceful: "I regret very much the image that was given. I believe it is something that should not be repeated". (rtve.es)
La Vuelta 2026 will offer a completely different image for its final.
Madrid will not have La Vuelta, but it will have Formula 1
The absence of La Vuelta does not mean that Madrid will experience a quiet weekend.
From September 11 to 13, the capital will host the Spanish Grand Prix of Formula 1 at Madring, the new circuit built around IFEMA and Valdebebas. It will be one of the largest organizational sporting events the city has faced in recent years.
The circuit has 5.4 kilometers and 22 curves, according to the latest data published by the City Council, and is designed to reach speeds close to 300 kilometers per hour. Its most recognizable element will be "La Monumental," a banked curve of about 550 meters and a 24% incline.
The initial forecast of IFEMA is to receive around 110,000 spectators, with a project that contemplates raising the capacity above 140,000 in the coming years.
The organization of traffic and transportation will therefore be an essential part of the premiere.
Metro as the gateway to the circuit
Madrid wants to avoid tens of thousands of spectators trying to arrive by car.
The Community has set as a goal that more than 80% of attendees use public transport. Metro will deploy a special device during the three days of the Grand Prix, with more trains and additional staff at the stations with the highest influx.
Line 8 will be one of the main accesses. It connects Nuevos Ministerios with Feria de Madrid and leaves fans next to the venue. Cercanías and urban buses will complete the planned network to distribute the flows of entry and exit.
The preparations are already affecting mobility weeks before the race. The City Council maintains cuts and restrictions on Ribera del Sena, Vía de Dublín, Francisco Umbral, and several roundabouts in the area, in addition to modifications in EMT lines, and recommends avoiding private vehicles in the affected areas.
Madrid will thus face a different challenge than La Vuelta. It will not have to close for a few hours a circuit that crosses some of its main avenues in the center, but it will have to manage tens of thousands of people around IFEMA and Valdebebas for three days.
The same Sunday, two international showcases
The coincidence leaves a unique image for September 13.
Madrid will be watching the single-seaters. Granada, the bicycles.
The capital will host a Grand Prix that is guaranteed to be on the Formula 1 calendar until 2035. Granada will experience for the first time the day that traditionally concentrates the final celebration of one of the three major cycling tours in the world.
For La Vuelta, the choice is also part of its way of promoting Spain.
The organization defines Granada as a city with "a special place" in the history of the race and presents the Alhambra as the great symbol of the end of this edition. The Provincial Council, for its part, considers that hosting the finale offers a "touristic, economic, and image" opportunity and will allow the province to reach millions of spectators.
The route is designed to take advantage of it.
After three weeks and an international start in Monaco, the last kilometers will take the peloton again and again next to the Alhambra and through the center of Granada. Gran Vía de Colón, Reyes Católicos, Acera del Darro, Recogidas, and Paseo del Salón will be part of the last images of La Vuelta 2026.
And when the winner finally crosses the finish line, Granada will have entered a group that until now was formed by only seven cities.
The eighth will be her.