Spanish police detain 22 climate activists, accuse them of forming criminal organization

OVIEDO, Spain

Spanish police announced on Friday that they had detained 22 climate activists from the organization Futuro Vegetal, accusing the group of operating like a “criminal organization.”

The arrests, according to the Madrid police, were coordinated across Spain in December.

The police accuse the group of causing around €500,000 ($548,000) in damage.

Futuro Vegetal is one of Spain’s main environmental groups, well known for using civil disobedience to protest climate change and the poor treatment of animals.

Some of their most famous actions include gluing their hands to the frame of an iconic Francisco de Goya painting in the Prado Museum, tinting the entrance to the Spanish parliament red, and vandalizing mega-yachts and private jets in Ibiza.

On X, Futuro Vegetal said Spanish authorities are criminalizing the activism because they “prioritize the interests of corporations over the collective, or even over the law.”

Other groups have also come out in support of the activists, such as CAES, a legal group focused on human rights.

“We need organization and commitment to the fight for climate justice since we have no other way out. Criminalization and persecution will not help when everything is at risk,” the group posted on Friday.

Meanwhile, police say the group has also managed to establish international ties with other “criminal organizations,” but gave no specifics.

Last October, Michel Forst, the UN special rapporteur on environmental defenders, told Portuguese news agency Lusa that there was a growing crackdown in many EU countries against environmental activists.

“I don’t understand why, but the fact is that more and more politicians in more countries are comparing people who are actually peaceful demonstrators with violent terrorists,” he said, adding that he has seen it in “Spain, the Netherlands, Denmark, the UK, Germany and Switzerland” and that governments in France and Austria classify activists as “eco-terrorists or green Taliban.”

Spanish police, however, say Futuro Vegetal was behind 65 actions that had consequences such as temporarily shutting airport tracks, closing museums, or blocking traffic.

Some of the charges against protestors include criminal organization membership, property damage, impacting road and air traffic safety, attacking an officer, and public disorder.

Futuro Vegetal insists it is not a criminal organization and does not have leaders.

“We are not a criminal organization but engage in nonviolent protest. We do not profit from this, and instead risk the possibility of going to jail for demanding a dignified future for humanity," Victoria Domingo, one of its spokespersons, told El Pais.