On Tuesday, climate activists spray-painted a mansion on the Spanish holiday island of Ibiza, which belongs to Argentine football star Lionel Messi, to underscore the "responsibility of the rich for the climate crisis". Campaigners from the group Futuro Vegetal released a video featuring two members in front of the house near Cala Tarida on Ibiza's western coast, holding a banner that read: "Help the Planet -- Eat the Rich -- Abolish the Police". They then sprayed the white facade of the building with red and black paint.
In a statement, the group aimed to highlight "the responsibility of the rich for the climate crisis" by targeting the mansion, which they claimed was an "illegal construction". Futuro Vegetal referenced a 2023 Oxfam report that revealed the richest one percent of the world's population produced the same amount of carbon emissions in 2019 as the poorest two thirds, despite the most vulnerable communities bearing the brunt of the crisis. Messi, who currently plays for Inter Miami in the US, reportedly acquired the property on the Mediterranean island, which includes a spa with a sauna and a cinema room, in 2022 from a Swiss businessman for approximately 11 million euros ($12 million). However, the mansion lacked a certificate of occupancy due to the construction of several rooms without a license, according to Spanish media reports.
Futuro Vegetal, associated with similar groups internationally, has conducted numerous 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. Last year, activists from the group spray-painted a superyacht moored in Ibiza with red and black paint, which reportedly belonged to Nancy Walton Laurie, the billionaire heiress of US retail giant Walmart. Spanish police in January arrested 22 members of Futuro Vegetal, including the two who staged the protest at the Prado and the group's top three leaders.
