The vandalised mansion. INSET: Lionel Messi
Argentina president Javier Milei has expressed solidarity to Lionel Messi and his family after their mansion in Ibiza was vandalised by climate change activists, and called for the Spanish government to guarantee the safety of the Argentine citizens.
A group of vandals broke into Messi’s €11m property on the Spanish island on Tuesday and covered the walls with red and black paint.
The vandals also posed in the garden holding a banner written in English that read: “Help the planet. Eat the rich. Abolish the police.”
Milei posted on X: “In Spain, communists who want to “murder the rich and abolish the police to end climate change” vandalised a home of Lionel Messi and his family.
“I stand in solidarity with the Messi family for this cowardly and delusional event and I ask Pedro Sanchez’s government to guarantee the safety of the Argentine citizens who live in the Kingdom of Spain.
“Communism is an ideology fostered by envy, hatred and resentment towards the successful. It has no place in the free and civilised world.”
Messi, who purchased the exclusive home in 2022 after leaving Barcelona, was not at the property at the time but has used it when vacationing on the island.
The activists said in a statement that with this “non-violent civil disobedience” act it wanted to blame the rich for the climate crisis while also report the Spanish government’s lack of action.
According to the activists, Messi’s mansion was built “illegally.”
The Inter Miami forward is currently recovering from an ankle injury sustained during the recent Copa América.