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Spanish climate activist group Futuro Vegetal set its sights on the Ibiza mansion of soccer star Lionel Messi this week, vandalizing the $12 million property with spray paint and posting the results on Instagram, according to various reports.
After breaching the luxury estate, the group spray painted the side of the home in red and black paint and unfurled a banner outside the entrance that said, “Help the planet, eat the rich, abolish the police.”
Members of the group then posed for photos outside of the home.
Futuro Vegetal is known for its extreme tactics. The group’s foundations are based in civil disobedience and direct action in order to fight the climate crisis through a plant-based agri-food system, according to the group’s website.
Futuro Vegetal called Messi’s mansion an “illegal construction” and emphasized the impact the climate crisis is having on the Balearic Islands, which is where Ibiza is located.
“The richest 1 percent of the population is responsible for the same amount of carbon emissions as the poorest two-thirds,” Futuro Vegetal said. “We need a radical change of system to face the Climate Crisis.”
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Messi bought the estate in 2022 and often visits with his wife, Antonela Roccuzzo, and the couple’s three children. He was not at the property when the vandalism occurred.
The native Argentinian, who now plays for Inter Miami, had fans enthralled during his performance at the Copa América tournament this summer, where he helped lead the Argentina national football team to victory.
Messi is currently taking a break from playing after returning from the tournament with an ankle injury, from which he is still recovering.
Messi has not publicly responded to the vandalism, but Argentina’s president, Javier Milei, showed his solidarity for the athlete while also placing blame on “Spanish communists.”
“In Spain, communists who want to ‘murder the rich and abolish the police to end climate change’ vandalized a home of Lionel Messi and his family,” Milei posted on X. “I stand in solidarity with the Messi family for this cowardly and delusional event and I ask Pedro Sanchez’s government to guarantee the safety of the Argentine citizens who live in the Kingdom of Spain.”
Futuro Vegetal said in a statement that the act was meant to blame the rich for the climate crisis, while also highlighting the lack of action on the part of the Spanish government.
The Ibiza property is just one of several Messi owns around the world. The footballer owns an $11 million mansion in Fort Lauderdale, a $7 million property near Barcelona, and numerous other multimillion-dollar properties in Florida, as well as a residence in his hometown of Rosario, Argentina.
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