A 41-year-old Belgian man was arrested in the early hours of the 10th after allegedly painting on the facade of the Iglesia San Justo y Pastor, the Colegio Mayor Bartolomé y Santiago and on the steps of La Plaza de las Pasiegas in Granada. Both the church and the college are listed as national heritage buildings.

The arrested man has a police record for similar acts.

It was around three in the morning that the police received a phone call from a resident in the area to say an individual was painting on several monuments in Calle Jerónimo with a large paint brush and white paint, so they went around and found the suspect with two cans of paint; one of white paint and the other of orange, a large plastic bowl and three paintbrushes.

When he was taken to the police station he at first refused to make a statement but later admitted that he had done it.

The paint on the college was removed first thing in the morning but the paint on the church and that on the steps in the square were still visible that same afternoon.

The city has suffered so much vandalism of this kind (Graffiti) that a special police department was formed to combat it, as well as coming down harder on those caught. The destruction of defacing of protected buildings and monuments can bring a prison sentence of between one and three years, plus a fine, as well as having to pay for putting the damage right.

The Archbishop of Granada made over 20 ‘denucias’ for vandalism against churches in the capital and the province in general, whereas only two years ago there had only been three, so it appears that this form of vandalism against religious buildings has increased sharply. In fact, according to the Policía Nacional only 23% of protected buildings in the city have not suffered some graffiti on their facades.

(News: Metrolpolitan Granada, Granada, Andalucia)