The National Police has arrested in various parts of Spain, including Elda (Alicante) and València, 22 alleged members of the environmental organization Futuro Vegetal, including its three leaders, accused of forming a criminal structure and causing damage to assets worth of more than half a million euros.
65 criminal acts are attributed to this group, including throwing paint at the façade of the Congress of Deputies, blocking roads in Madrid, damaging works at the Prado Museum and accessing the runways of Ibiza airports. and Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas, causing their temporary closure.
As reported by the National Police, the arrests were carried out in a coordinated manner in the cities of Madrid, Barcelona, ??Cádiz, Murcia, Elda (Alicante), Zaragoza, Granada, València, Soria, Santander and San Sebastián.
The police investigation, which began a year ago, confirmed that the organization was made up of a large number of members, with a clear distribution of tasks coordinated by leaders – known as “dynamicists” – who assumed managerial roles and received remuneration for their responsibilities. .
Futuro Vegetal received more than 140,000 euros in donations, part of which were allegedly used by the three leaders of the organization to coordinate their criminal activity.
The members of the organization established international relations with other similar groups, even committing actions abroad, such as the sabotage of a gas station in the town of Laruns (France) last September.
The investigation began in January 2022 after several activists threw paint at the facade of the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Food in Madrid.
Since then, members of this group acted on at least 65 other occasions in other parts of Spain, causing damage estimated at more than 500,000 euros, without quantifying the damage caused to artistic heritage.
Due to these events, the 22 arrested persons were placed at the disposal of the judicial authority as alleged perpetrators of the crimes of belonging to a criminal organization, damage, damage to historical heritage, damage to road and air traffic safety, attack on an authority agent and disorder. public.