Climate activists hurl paint at Barcelona’s Sagrada Familia over wildfires

Climate activists splashed red and black paint across Barcelona’s Sagrada Familia on Sunday to protest the summer wildfires that have scorched parts of Spain, the Futuro Vegetal group said.

In a video posted to social media, police are seen detaining two demonstrators as they shout for ‘climate justice’.

The Sagrada Familia, designed by Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí, is one of the city’s foremost tourist landmarks.

Futuro Vegetal condemned what it called inadequate government action on climate change, particularly in tackling the latest wave of fires that has caused extensive damage. ALSO READ: Spanish government categorises wildfire-hit areas as ‘disaster zones’.

According to the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS), the blazes have killed four people and burned roughly 350,000 hectares over the past two weeks.

The Spanish government has described the fires as ‘one of the biggest environmental catastrophes’ the country has seen in recent memory and acknowledged a link to climate change. ALSO READ: Pedro Sánchez visits wildfire-hit Galicia and pledges ‘national pact’ to address climate emergency.

Authorities said the situation improved over the weekend, with civil protection services director Virginia Barcones saying Saturday that the emergency was ‘coming to an end’.

Futuro Vegetal, which has links to similar groups abroad, has staged dozens of comparable actions, including a 2022 protest in which members glued their hands to the frames of paintings by Francisco de Goya at Madrid’s Prado Museum. ALSO READ: Spanish police arrest climate activists who glued themselves to Goya paintings.

Paint was also thrown at a superyacht in Ibiza reportedly belonging to Nancy Walton Laurie, the billionaire heiress to US retail giant Walmart, and at a mansion owned by former FC Barcelona star Lionel Messi on the island. ALSO READ: Messi’s mansion in Ibiza targeted by climate activists.

Spanish police said last year they had arrested 22 members of Futuro Vegetal, including the two involved in the Prado protest and the group’s three main leaders.