Environmental activists defaced Barcelona’s iconic Sagrada Família with red powder, marking the seventh reported attack on Catholic churches in Spain this August.
In a deliberate act of climate protest, two members of the environmental group Futuro Vegetal threw red powder at the Portal de la Fe of Barcelona’s Sagrada Família basilica. Authorities quickly detained the activists, who now face fines under Spain’s “gag law.” While the activists claimed their motive was to denounce government complicity in forest fires and livestock subsidies, the deliberate targeting of a sacred religious site added a layer of controversy.
This incident occurred amid a troubling surge in attacks on Catholic churches across Spain. The president of the Observatory for Religious Freedom and Conscience (OLRC), María García, listed it among the the seven attacks on Catholic churches in Spain during the month of August.
These seven separate cases include acts of vandalism, desecration, physical aggression against clergy and parishioners, graffiti, arson, and destruction of religious symbols-with the Sagrada Família attack being one of the most visible.