Since clinching the Copa America last month, life’s been throwing curveballs at Lionel Messi. First of all, he is nursing a broken ankle which made him miss important matches in the tournament and broke him into tears. Now, a group of climate activists stormed his mansion in Ibiza, Spain, where he goes to relax with family. After vandalizing the former Barcelona star’s $12 million property, the climate activist group Futuro Vegetal sent a chilling message to the Spanish government. Futuro Vegetal’s move aimed to challenge government policies that are unequal and detrimental to the environment. What’s more, the group also exposed the legitimacy of Leo Messi’s luxury villa.

The Inter Miami captain bought the mansion in Ibiza in 2022, during his first season in PSG. It is one of the many properties Messi owns in Spain, considering he spent close to two decades in Barcelona. However, Futuro Vegetal has alleged that the 37-year-old’s Ibiza property is “illegal”.

Climate activists vandalize Lionel Messi’s mansion in a fight against inequality

“Help the planet, eat the rich, abolish the police.” Futuro Vegetal activists wrote this message on a placard which they brandished while tinting Lionel Messi’s villa red and black. The group’s move questions the Spanish government’s policies, which they consider as detrimental to the climate crisis. But what has Leo Messi and his mansion got to do with the government policies and climate crisis? Here’s what Futuro Vegetal said regarding the same through a post on X.

“We tinted Messi’s illegal mansion in Ibiza. The Mansion is an illegal construction that the footballer acquired for the exorbitant sum of 11 million euros. While this is happening, in the Balearic Islands alone, between 2 and 4 people have died as a direct consequence of the heat wave. The richest 1% of the population is responsible for the same amount of carbon emissions as the poorest two-thirds,” Futuro Vegetal wrote on X.

A Futuro Vegetal spokesperson also said that their act at Messi’s mansion challenges the government bodies that permit illegal constructions in exchange for payment. This came when the authorities in Ibiza evicted 200 workers in the neighborhood. There’s more to the mayhem in Ibiza, which we’ll explore as we go ahead.

A sneak peek into the chaos at the Ibiza mansion and more about its legality

The climate group also highlighted a January newspaper report that said that two town hall chiefs in San Jose suspended ‘unauthorized’ work on Lionel Messi’s property. It also said Messi bought the mansion via his company which has his brother Rodrigo as a director. Messi’s company reportedly bought the luxury villa in February 2022 without a certificate of occupancy. Speaking of the Futuro Vegetal’s mayhem at the property, videos on X show that its members tinted the villa’s facade red and black. They also barged into the swimming pool and the practice turf in the mansion, where the Argentine’s family relaxes.

However, Leo Messi has yet to respond to the damages caused to his property. It remains to be seen if he will pursue a legal battle against Futuro Vegetal first or clean up the organization’s allegations about the mansion being illegal. Futuro Vegetal, operating in Ibiza has earlier targeted Walmart Heiress Nancy Walton Laurie’s yacht in Ibiza, painting it red and black.

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