Climate activists target Messi's mansion in Spain's Ibiza

IBIZA

Climate activists on Aug. 6 spray-painted a mansion on the Spanish holiday island of Ibiza belonging to Argentinian football star Lionel Messi, sparking the ire of his country's President Javier Milei.

Campaigners from the group Futuro Vegetal released a video showing two members standing in front of the house near the cove of Cala Tarida on Ibiza's western coast holding a banner that read: "Help the Planet — Eat the Rich — Abolish the Police."

The activists then sprayed the white facade of the building with red and black paint.

In a statement, the group said they wanted to show "the responsibility of the rich for the climate crisis" by targeting the mansion which they said was an "illegal construction."

Futuro Vegetal cited a 2023 Oxfam report that found that the richest one percent of the world's population generated the same amount of carbon emissions in 2019 as the poorest two thirds of humanity.

This disparity came about despite the fact that the most vulnerable communities are the ones suffering the "worst consequences" of this crisis, they said.

Milei reacted furiously on X, formerly Twitter, lambasting "communists who want to murder the rich and abolish the police to end climate change."

"I stand with Messi's family over this cowardly and crazy incident," he added, asking Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez's government to guarantee the security of Argentinians living in the country.

Futuro Vegetal, which is linked to similar groups internationally, has staged dozens of similar protests, including one in 2022 where they glued their hands to frames of paintings by Spanish master Francisco de Goya at Madrid's Prado museum.