Lionel Messi, who plays for David Beckham’s Inter Miami, has slapped the eco-warriors Futuro Vegetal with a 50,000 euros bill for compensation for criminal damage caused when activists vandalised his villa in Ibiza. The spokesman for the environmental group Bilbo Bassaterra confirmed on Friday the amount claimed in the complaint, which has been filed with the Guardia Civil by a Messi employee on the island.
Bassaterra considered that the amount “is obviously very high and that an initial estimate has been made above the cost” in view of the legal proceedings. “This is water-based paint, so a priori it can be washed off with a hosepipe, at most you’ll have to rub a little. But even in the worst case scenario, even if the façade had to be repainted, it doesn’t cost 50,000 euros,” he said.
The spokesperson and two other members of Futuro Vegetal were arrested by the Guardia Civil two days after the protest at Messi’s house to denounce the “responsibility of the rich” in the climate crisis.
The protest at the football player’s house took place on 6 August and the three activists were arrested on 8 August after throwing paint on the façade of the Leonardo Royal Hotel, located in Santa Eulària, which they accuse of financing the genocide in Gaza.
The three were released after 24 hours charged with criminal damage in both protests. Bassaterra argued that throwing paint that runs off with water on a wall “is like spitting on it” and that “no one would think of asking for criminal damage for spitting on a façade”. He said that they will ask the court for an expert opinion, which is the most reasonable way to assess whether “any damage” has been done. The spokesman also criticised the claim for 50,000 euros for a mansion which, he insisted, “was built without planning permission”. He added that the Sant Josep Town Hall “asked him in May to regularise it and he didn’t even try. It has neither head nor tail,“ he criticised.
The Town Hall of Sant Josep sent at the end of May, through the department of urban discipline, a requirement for the property to regularise structural elements of the property, including swimming pools and garage, but has not yet received a response, according to the council.
Meanwhile, the environmental organisation Extinction Rebellion Ibiza has sent Messi an open letter in which they urge him to reflect on the motives of the climate activists who “dared to enter” his property in Ibiza and in which they ask him to stop being part of the problem and urge him to be “part of the solution”.