Environmental activists on Tuesday covered the luxury Ibiza mansion of football legend Lionel Messi in red and black paint, sparking disagreement between Spain and Argentina.
After activists defaced the mansion, members of the environmental group Future Plant were seen holding banners with slogans such as “help the planet, eat rice and abolish the police.” Express reported.
The members shared the photos of the graffiti-covered house on their Instagram account along with a caption.
“The mansion is an illegal building that the footballer bought for the exorbitant sum of 11 million euros. While this is happening, in the Balearic Islands alone, between two and four people have died as a direct consequence of the heat wave.”
In this regard, in statements to the President of the Spanish Government, Pedro Sánchez, the Argentine President, Javier Milei, asked for guarantees for Argentine citizens, according to the Spanish broadcaster COPE.
In addition, Mr. Milei expressed his concern for the football star's family on his X account, formerly known as Twitter.
“I stand in solidarity with the Messi family for this cowardly and delusional act and I ask the government of Pedro Sánchez to guarantee the safety of Argentine citizens residing in the Kingdom of Spain.”
Going further, the Argentine leader called climate change activists “communists,” adding: “Communism is an ideology fostered by envy, hatred and resentment towards the successful. It has no place in the free and civilized world.”
Messi bought the San Josep property in 2022 and the Argentine world champion is a regular visitor to the island with his family.
