Megayacht Lady Moura targeted by eco-activists in Ibiza

Activists from Extinction Rebellion have staged another protest targeting superyachts and wealthy tourists.

The 104.85-metre superyacht Lady Moura, built in 1990, is owned by Mexican billionaire Ricardo Salinas Pliego. It is often called the world’s first ‘megayacht’ and is known as the first superyacht to feature a beach club.

The yacht was docked in Ibiza over the Easter weekend when the protesters unfurled a banner that reads: “You are kicking us off the island. Your luxury is our crisis.”

The activists later wrote in a social media post on Instagram that the Mexican businessman had no concern for the “suffering of others or inequality or injustice”.

The post, originally written in Spanish, continues: “He cares little about the housing crisis that we suffer in Ibiza, the cause of which is largely the creation of Ibiza as a luxury destination. The elite of the mega-rich constitute a real danger to all humanity. We denounce the mega fortunes, their impunity for tax evasion and abuse of the Earth’s resources.

“Their fortune is our misery, and we do not tolerate it. The reality is that as the rich get richer, the poor get poorer. As Oxfam highlights, the mega-rich are part of the problem of growing inequality since they put business and personal profit before justice and humanity, and economic growth before the habitability of the planet.”

One local responded with a comment reading: “The island has been super-exploited for years now, but I think the problem is not with entrepreneurs but a government that profits from it..”

Another writes: “These yachts leave a significant economic spillover in the local economy, wouldn’t it be better to have fewer people on the island and that each person contributes more substantially? Or is it better to have cheap mass tourism that comes to consume drugs, alcohol and make a mess?”

A third writes: “With wealth normally comes greed, and often wealth comes from greed. It’s a human condition, and I wish you good luck in trying to stop it because you will need all the luck you can get.”

In 2022 and 2023, activists from Extinction Rebellion blocked the entrance to the METSTRADE superyacht forum, in what it described as ‘a legal demonstration’. Protestors demanded that both the superyacht industry and the Dutch government realise that there is no place for superyachts in a just transition to carbon neutral.

Extinction Rebellion says the number of superyachts currently cruising is estimated at more than 9,300, with a combined value of more than €57bn.

One superyacht with permanent crew, helipad, submarine and swimming pool emits more than 7,000 tons of CO2 every year: that is 1000x more than the average European, according to the organisation.

Meanwhile, it says, the devastating effects of climate change are visible around the world, and people who have historically contributed least to global warming are being hit hardest.

In 2023, environmental protestors from the campaign group Futuro Vegetal spray painted Walmart heiress Nancy Walton Laurie’s $300m superyacht, Kaos with biodegradable paint two times, as part of its campaign ‘Jets and Yachts, the party is over.’