Spanish Protesters Damage Business Jet

Spanish police arrested four people who vandalized a business jet parked at Ibiza Airport on July 14. Three eco-protesters from the Spain-based Futuro Vegetal (Vegetable Future) and one from Extinction Rebellion daubed a German-registered Embraer Phenom 300E with yellow and black paint before gluing themselves to the fuselage.

Ibiza Airport, which is part of the Aena group, did not respond to a request for further details. Local police said the protesters have been released but have not confirmed what further legal action they may face.

Two days after the incident, another group from Futuro Vegetal claimed responsibility for damaging a super-yacht owned by Walmart heir Nancy Walton Laurie that was docked in Ibiza. According to photos posted by the group, at least one of the protesters was involved in both attacks.

Statements from the protesters emphasized their intention to target individuals in the world’s top 1 percent financial bracket, claiming that they are responsible for as much carbon dioxide output as the poorest 50 percent of the global population. The attacks occurred about a week before Spain's general election, with Futura Vegetal declaring that its action was provoked by what it regards as the failure of the country's political parties to propose an adequate response to climate change.

In June, another group, Letze Generation (Last Generation), caused serious damage to a Cessna Citation CJ1+ parked at Sylt Airport in northern Germany. In May, Extinction Rebellion and several other allied groups invaded the static display at the European Business Aviation Conference & Exhibition (EBACE) 2023 in Geneva, causing damage to at least one aircraft. These attacks are the continuation of a trend that started at several European airports last fall, when protesters broke into business aviation enclaves at sites including Amsterdam Schiphol Airport, London Luton and Farnborough airports, and Milan Linate.

A group of Greenpeace protesters who were arrested when they chained themselves to aircraft at Schiphol in the November 2022 incident are due to face criminal charges. However, eight months after the incident, no date has been set for court proceedings.

In late June, German public prosecutors confirmed that they have put Letze Generation under surveillance. At the time of the Sylt incident, police indicated that the protesters would face federal criminal charges, but BJT has not been able to confirm the current status of these cases.

Two days after the EBACE protest, Swiss prosecutors dealing with 102 people arrested by Geneva police said all were guilty of “trespassing, property damage, and coercion.” One person was also charged with injuring a police officer. However, all the protesters who had no prior criminal convictions were reportedly given suspended fines that would be payable only if they reoffended.