At around 06:00 on Saturday morning Trablisa staff detected a strong smell of paint and during an inspection of the site and tracks they spotted several people allegedly scrawling graffiti on the trains.
The suspects fled into the Jacint Verdeguer tunnel when they saw the guards who managed to grab the defendant and detain him until the National Police arrived.
The suspect allegedly admitted that he was a member of a group of Graffiti Artists who had agreed via social media to storm the station and paint the wagons, saying that it was not the first time it had been done.
Graffiti activity subsided considerably during the Covid-19 pandemic, but has increased significantly since the lockdown ended.
Police say the Graffiti Artists usually enter through Jacint Verdeguer station in the early hours of the morning and walk through the tunnel to the Intermodal Station.
In 2019, three men and a woman were arrested by the Guardia Civil during a crackdown on graffiti on train wagons in Spain, the Balearic Islands and elsewhere in Europe.
Graffiti damage costs the Spanish Government around 6 million euros a year and last year Majorca forked out more than 680,000 euros for cleaning and repairs caused by Graffiti Artists.
2 comments
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The trains look a lot better when covered in art for sure.
Graffiti is visual pollution. It stains our environment just as surely as an oil spill or excessive noise. The authorities must make it a priority to remove it as soon as it appears, and to pursue the criminals who cause such pollution. Punishments must be equal to those faced by any other envoronmental criminal.