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

Climate activists on Tuesday spraypainted a mansion on the Spanish holiday island of Ibiza belonging to Argentinian football star Lionel Messi sparking the ire of his countrys President Javier MileiCampaigners from the group Futuro Vegetal released a video showing two members standing in front of the house near the cove of Cala Tarida on Ibizas western coast holding a banner that read Help the Planet Eat the Rich Abolish the PoliceThe activists then sprayed the white facade of the building with red and black paintIn 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 constructionFuturo Vegetal cited a 2023 Oxfam report that found that the richest one percent of the worlds population generated the same amount of carbon emissions in 2019 as the poorest two thirds of humanityThis disparity came about despite the fact that the most vulnerable communities are the ones suffering the worst consequences of this crisis they saidMilei reacted furiously on X formerly Twitter lambasting communists who want to murder the rich and abolish the police to end climate changeI stand with Messis family over this cowardly and crazy incident he added asking Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchezs government to guarantee the security of Argentinians living in the countryGlue on GoyaMessi who currently plays for Inter Miami in the United States reportedly bought the property on the Mediterranean island which includes a spa with a sauna and a cinema room in 2022 from a Swiss businessman for around 11 million euros 12 millionBut the mansion lacked a certificate of occupancy a document issued by a local government agency certifying it is in a liveable condition due to the construction of several rooms in the property without a licence according to Spanish media reportsFuturo 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 Madrids Prado museumLast year activists from the group spraypainted a superyacht moored in Ibiza with red and black paint that reportedly belonged to Nancy Walton Laurie the billionaire heiress of US retail giant WalmartSpanish police in January said they had arrested 22 members of Futuro Vegetal including the two who staged the protest at the Prado as well as the groups top three leadersThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever