Three scientists went on trial in Barcelona over a 2023 climate protest in which beetroot juice was thrown at the building of the Government Delegation. The facts are not disputed: one defendant poured the juice on the façade, another held a banner calling on governments to act on climate change, and the third mediated with police.
The dispute is over how the protest should be treated under the law. Prosecutors have charged the defendants with aggravated damage and are seeking 18 months in prison and a €2,700 fine for each. They also want the three to pay €4,132.15 jointly to the Government Delegation in Catalonia, matching the bill for specialist cleaning of the façade.
The prosecutor argued that the building is public property and that the defendants should have anticipated that the juice would leave a mark. A representative of the cleaning company told the court that the façade’s porous stone could not be cleaned with water alone, contradicting the defendants’ claim that the substance would wash away easily.
The defence is seeking acquittal, arguing that the action did not constitute a criminal offence and was protected by the right to assembly. Lawyer Solange Hilbert described it as a low-impact, almost performative protest that caused reversible soiling, saying the street was “dirtier from dog urine” than from the defendants’ action.
The defendants said they had chosen beetroot juice because, in their view, it could be washed away with water and would cause damage. They described the action as a protest against government inaction on the climate emergency. The trial has concluded and the case is awaiting a judgment.
Sources: elDiario.es.