The 37-year-old Lionel Messi, the star player for Inter Miami, owns several properties throughout the world, including an £8.45 million mansion in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
He signed with David Beckham’s MLS team many months before to purchasing the house in September.
Naturally, while he is in the United States, his other homes are mainly empty, and activists have taken advantage of this to hold a protest at one of his Ibiza estates.
Messi’s £9 million home on the Spanish island came under fire from the climate activist group Futuro Vegetal, who called it an “illegal construction”.
This week, activists broke into the mansion and painted it red and black. They then posted pictures of their work on social media.
Two members of the group were pictured holding up a banner with the message “Help the planet, eat the rich, abolish the police”.
Activists’ explanation on this incident
Explaining their reasoning for breaking into the Argentina star’s property, Futuro Vegetal posted 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.
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“The richest 1% of the population is responsible for the same amount of carbon emissions as the poorest two-thirds. This is only possible because public authorities support an economic-social system that threatens life.
“While the far right blames migrants for the crisis and displays extreme violence against them, those of us who fight for a better world are clear that the problem is social inequality.
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“Let’s tackle the problems at the root. We need a radical change of system to face the Climate Crisis.”
Messi is taking a break from football at the moment after assisting Argentina in maintaining their Copa America championship in the US.
In the tournament final, the eight-time Ballon d’Or champion suffered an ankle injury against Colombia. He is currently healing. with the former Barcelona and PSG star’s official comeback date yet unknown.
