vuelta

Vuelta is a Spanish noun with several related meanings. In everyday use, it denotes a return or coming back, as in volver a casa (to return home), or a turn, lap, or circuit, as in dar la vuelta (to turn around) or hacer una vuelta en la pista. The word derives from volver, meaning to return.

In sports, the term is widely used to describe tours and competitive cycles. In cycling, La Vuelta a España, often simply called La Vuelta, is one of the sport’s three Grand Tours, alongside the Tour de France and the Giro d’Italia. It is a multi-stage road race held annually in Spain that attracts top professional teams and riders from around the world; its routes typically combine mountain climbs, time trials, and flat stages to determine an overall winner.

Beyond cycling, vuelta appears in various compound names and phrases that convey a tour or circuit around a country or region, such as Vuelta al mundo (round the world) and Vuelta a Colombia or Vuelta a Portugal, referring to races or tours held in those countries.

In broader usage, vuelta also functions as a general term for completing a circuit or turning a page, and it remains a common part of everyday Spanish vocabulary across Spanish-speaking regions. The word’s versatility makes it a standard element in both descriptive phrases and formal event names.