Climate activists target Messi's mansion in Ibiza, Spain.

On Tuesday, climate activists spray-painted a mansion on the Spanish holiday island of Ibiza belonging to Argentine football star Lionel Messi to highlight "the responsibility of the rich for the climate crisis."

Campaigners from the group Futuro Vegetal released a video showing two members standing in front of the house near Cala Tarida on Ibiza's western coast, holding a banner that read: "Help the Planet -- Eat the Rich -- Abolish the Police."

The activists then sprayed the white facade of the building with red and black paint. In a statement, the group said they wanted to demonstrate "the responsibility of the rich for the climate crisis" by targeting the mansion, which they claimed was an "illegal construction."

Futuro Vegetal cited a 2023 Oxfam report stating that the richest one percent of the world's population generated the same amount of carbon emissions in 2019 as the poorest two-thirds of humanity, even though the most vulnerable communities are suffering the "worst consequences" of this crisis.

Messi, who currently plays for Inter Miami in the US, reportedly bought the property on the Mediterranean island in 2022 from a Swiss businessman for around 11 million euros ($12 million). The mansion, which includes a spa with a sauna and a cinema room, lacked a certificate of occupancy due to the construction of several unlicensed rooms, according to Spanish media reports.

Futuro Vegetal, linked to similar international groups, has staged numerous protests, including one in 2022 where they glued their hands to frames of paintings by Spanish master Francisco de Goya at Madrid's Prado museum. Last year, activists from the group spray-painted a superyacht moored in Ibiza that reportedly belonged to Nancy Walton Laurie, the billionaire heiress of US retail giant Walmart, with red and black paint.

In January, Spanish police said they had arrested 22 members of Futuro Vegetal, including the two who staged the protest at the Prado and the group's top three leaders.