OVIEDO, Spain
Environmentalists vandalized a private jet parked in the Ibiza airport in Spain on Friday, with one young activist gluing himself to the airplane.
During the act that included throwing paint at the jet, the activists unfurled a sign reading: “Your luxury=our climate crisis.”
After the incident, Spanish police arrested the four activists involved. Three were from the Futuro Vegetal group and the other was from Extinction Rebellion Ibiza. They were held for nine hours before they were released Friday evening, according to Futuro Vegetal.
The protest did not disrupt any flights in the Ibiza Airport, according to Spanish airport operator Aena.
The activists from Futuro Vegetal said they were protesting because, a week ahead of general elections, no Spanish political party was offering a package of measures to alleviate the climate crisis.
“It’s the task of society, no matter who governs, to mitigate the effects of the climate crisis… The luxury industry consumes and contaminates common resources and all the life that inhabits the planet,” wrote Futuro Vegetal on Twitter. “The rich are a luxury we can’t afford.”
Futuro Vegetal is becoming one of the highest-profile environmental groups in Spain, using dramatic displays of vandalism to draw attention to the climate crisis and animal welfare.
In June, the group took credit for covering a Mcdonald’s in Murcia with paint to protest intensive farming.
Last November, two of the group’s members glued themselves to frames of famous Goya paintings in the Prado Museum to call for action to meet the Paris climate targets.
This week, Spain has been suffering through a dramatic heatwave, with temperatures hitting above 40 C (104 F) in large parts of the country.
Globally, the beginning of July saw the hottest week on record, according to the World Meteorological Organization.
