BARCELONA—A Spanish municipality which was supposed to host a water polo between Israel and Spain on Tuesday in the framework of a European championship has cancelled the event following pressure from the anti-Israel BDS (Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions) group.
It was only after the Israeli women’s team arrived in Barcelona that they were told the the municipality of Molins de Rei, located 18 kilometers from Barcelona, had decided it would not hold the game as planned.
Israeli Water Polo Association President Revital Cohen Gluska said that while match organizers had offered to hold the match at Barcelona’s Palau Sant Jordi arena, they had said that “there would be protests.”
Gluska said: ‘’If an Israeli team can perform in Abu Dhabi with the Israeli flag and anthem, we should also be able to play” in Spain.
Israeli Culture and Sport Minister Miri Regev was said to be in contact with her Spanish counterpart Jose Girao and was demanding that he find an immediate solution to the problem.