Cycle races

 The neighbouring town of Sabiñánigo hosts a massive and very important road cycle race called La Quebrantahuesos every year. Around 10,000 cyclists, both amateurs and professionals take part. They start in Sabñánigo and ride up the Aragón valley past Jaca, up to the Somport mountain pass and down into France. They go back into Spain via the Pourtalet mountain pass and return to Sabiñánigo. The race lasts a day and is spectacular and well-known. For that day life in that town is complicated, but it's a day, a Saturday at that and you can plan round it; make sure if you need to travel you get your timing right so you don't coincide with the closures.

Ok. That was on 20th June this year. 

Last week, the final complete week in June there were fiestas in Jaca, so we thought we'd go for a stroll in Sabiñánigo. Little did we know....

It turned out that the town was completely possessed by the cyclists. 

I'm not joking. Pretty well everything given over to them, the main street, accesses, you couldn't cross the road, queues of traffic-we were stopped on the motorway in full sun for half an hour with neither warnings nor explanations. Even the narrow pavements where we were walking had people cycling on them.

Apparently there has been praise for the organisation of the races; that will be from the perspective of those taking part in the competition. 

From the perspective of the people who live and work in the town, or had to drive round or past it; those who live in surrounding villages, already inconvenienced by everlasting roadworks, it was unmitigated chaos and inconvenience. Unannounced stoppages and blockages on main roads and even the motorway, bus journeys delayed; medical appointments missed. High street shops losing business due to inaccessibility. That's the impression I got from comments on social media.

The town surely benefits from big sporting events.but do the people of the locality actually receive any benefit or do they just have to put up with it?