THE Barcelona World Race, which sees crews of two sailing across the world, has been suspended due to political unrest.

It was announced on Thursday that the Cataluyna crisis, which has led thousands of companies relocating their legal headquarters to other parts of Spain, had affected its sponsorship.

“A sporting event of this scale requires significant private sponsorship, which is its only source of funding,” the Barcelona Ocean Sailing Foundation said.

“Political instability has made it difficult to guarantee delivering the event to the standards a round-the-world race deserves.”

The race which occurs every four years, starts and finishes in Barcelona with a stop-over in Sydney – a total of 26,000 nautical miles (48,152 kilometres).

Sponsors of the 2014-15 race included Estrella Damn, Renault and Johnson & Johnson.

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