It was an act of protest.
Lionel Messi has had quite a remarkable year so far. Inter Miami, where he joined last year to the reported tune of $150 million, is currently the winningest team in Major League Soccer. In June, the Argentinian national team clinched the title at the highly anticipated Copa América with Messi at the helm. While the 2022 World Cup champion has earned some time to relax, it seems like he can never catch a break.
On Aug. 7, Messi's mansion on the Spanish island of Ibiza was vandalized, with spray-painted graffiti covering the walls outside his home. Climate group Futuro Vegetal claimed responsibility for the act as activists looked to make a statement about millionaires' largesse and carbon footprints.
"We painted Messi's illegal mansion in Ibiza," Futuro Vegetal said in a social media post. "The mansion is an illegal construction that the soccer player acquired for the exorbitant figure of €11 million." The protestors posed with a banner that read "Help the planet, eat the rich, abolish the police."
???? ACTUAMOS ????
— FuturoVegetal???? (@FuturoVegetal) August 6, 2024
Tintamos la mansión ilegal de Messi en Ibiza ????
La Mansión se trata de una construcción ilegal que el futbolista adquirió por la exorbitante cifra de 11 millones de euros ????https://t.co/mslVlqLvfd pic.twitter.com/aK8GUqsr9i
"We are taught that the powerful are untouchable. It is true that policies are written and interpreted to serve those who have the most, directly attacking the rights of the rest of the population. But they are only one percent," another post read with video of the protestors covering the exterior of the building in red and black paint.
???? ACTUAMOS ????
— FuturoVegetal???? (@FuturoVegetal) August 6, 2024
Nos enseñan que los poderosos son intocables. Es cierto que la políticas se redactan e interpretan al servicio de quienes más tienen, atentando directamente contra los derechos del resto de la población. Pero solo son el 1%. pic.twitter.com/wV1kFl03Xc
The protest drew criticism from Argentinian firebrand libertarian president Javier Milei.
"In Spain, the communists who want to 'kill the rich and abolish the police to end climate change' vandalized a house belonging to Lionel Messi and his family," Milei wrote on X after the incident. "I stand in solidarity with the Messi family for this cowardly and delusional event and I ask the government of [Spanish prime minister] Pedro Sánchez to guarantee the safety of Argentine citizens living in the Kingdom of Spain."
"Communism is an ideology fostered by envy, hatred and resentment towards those who are successful. It has no place in the free and civilized world," Milei concluded. "Long live freedom, damn it!"
En España, los comunistas que quieren "asesinar a los ricos y abolir la policía para terminar con el cambio climático" vandalizaron una casa de Lionel Messi y su familia.
— Javier Milei (@JMilei) August 6, 2024
Me solidarizo con la familia Messi por este cobarde y delirante suceso y le solicito al gobierno de Pedro…
It's far from the first time climate activists have sought to make a statement with high-profile protests. In recent years, they've thrown soup on famous paintings and glued themselves to airport runways.
Messi also isn't the first famous figure to find himself at the center of one of these protests. In June, activists in the U.K. attempted to vandalize Taylor Swift's private plane with orange paint and ended up covering two other aircraft nearby.
Messi himself has yet to address the incident at his home.
