Police arrest man for defacing public spots in Barcelona with Russian pro-war Z symbol

The Catalan Mossos d'Esquadra police arrested a man for spray painting Russian pro-war symbols, swastikas, and threatening messages to Ukrainians on emblematic Barcelona buildings.

A 57-year-old Ukrainian from the occupied Donbas region of Russian origin, he is thought to have defaced the Barcelona Cathedral, the Catalan government headquarters, the Archdiocese, the Casa de l'Ardiaca, the Llotja de Mar, as well as the site of the Ukrainian association Djerelo.

The police investigation began on September 14, when Z symbols and swastikas were first spotted on the Cathedral and the Djerelo association's headquarters before soon appearing on other buildings.

Officers were able to determine that these all looked similar, which suggested there was one single perpetrator behind them. They soon realized this person posted images of the symbols on social media shortly after spray painting them. 

On October 11, threatening messages to Ukrainians and Russians against the invasion appeared in Barcelona's Poble Nou neighborhood in addition to pro-Russia symbols and swastikas, prompting police to launch an operation earlier this week to locate the alleged perpetrator. 

This person, a Barceloneta neighborhood resident, has been charged with two counts of threats and property crimes and one count of hate crime and has since been released.