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Futuro Vegetal staged a protest against El Corte Inglés for their climate destroying activities
Two activists from the environmental activism group Futuro Vegetal, whose stated aim is to fight against the climate crisis by advocating the implementation of a plant-based agri-food model, staged a protest this Thursday December 8 in which they threw paint over the popular children’s show Cortylandia, located in the centre of Madrid.
Cortylandia is a show consisting of Christmas lights and moving models that is displayed outside El Corte Inglés store on Madrid’s Calle del Maestro Victoria every year, and which children and families can visit for free.
This Thursday, in a call for action against the agri-food model in Spain which they believe “is directly responsible for the current climate emergency”, activists from Futuro Vegetal (which roughly translates as ‘Plant-based Future) used modified fire extinguishers to paint Cortylandia red and black.
Dos activistas de 'Futuro Vegetal' atacan con pintura roja y negra, usando extintores, parte del escenario navideño infantil de Cortylandia pic.twitter.com/BfcmyZFGG3
— EL MUNDO (@elmundoes) December 8, 2022
The activists demanded “an end to subsidies for the livestock industry and the use of this money for a transition to a plant-based, socially and ecologically responsible agri-food system”.
The staff at El Corte Inglés quickly called the police, who arrested the activists at 10am. They were released approximately half an hour later, but were may be fined for “damage to private property and disobedience” under Spain’s restrictive Gag Law or ‘Ley Mordaza’ which lays restrictions on the rights of assembly and freedom of expression.
Members of Futuro Vegetal have railed directly against El Corte Inglés and other similar corporations: “They cannot sell a family image while damaging the future of our children,” said one of the activists. “Institutions and corporations have to take responsibility for the damage they have done to our planet. We need strong action now.”
They continued: “Companies like El Corte Inglés are whitewashing the reality of the climate crisis and promoting a system of consumption based on an unsustainable production model.”
They argue that “abolishing livestock farming” would take us “halfway” to avoiding the worst effects of the climate crisis.
Futuro Vegetal is the same organisation that, last month, staged a protest at the Prado Museum in which two of its members glued themselves to the frames of Francisco de Goya’s painting ‘Las Majas’ and, a week after that, stained the display case of a Tutankhamun replica mummy in the Egyptian Museum in Barcelona with black liquid.
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Image: Futuro Vegetal
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