The Public Prosecutor for Granada has recommended a 2-year prison sentences for a man who stole into the Alhambra to paint graffiti.

Is nothing bloody sacred?

But this is not the only incident of its kind in Granada; i.e., defacing a historic monument with graffiti, because there have been two, separated by nine months and committed by a man from Majorca in the latest incident and by a foreigner in the first one.

As both of these incidents were carried out by visitors to the city, the authorities fear that there is a sort of morbid attraction developing along these lines; a sort of dare: go to Granada and leave your mark on the Alhambra.

The latest incident occurred on the night of the 16th of February this year when the Majorcan lad sneaked into the Alhambra to carry out his dastardly task but the security guards caught him red handed… well orange-handed, because that was the colour of the paint spray that he was using on the walls of a historic water cistern.

The other incident occurred last October and the target was the Hermitage of San Miguel in the Albaicín. This foreign culprit had decided to paint fake Egyptian symbols all over the place. He is facing a the same sentence as the Majorcan man.

Believe it or not, the justice system has moved pretty fast to bring these two cases to trial in the hope of nipping this ‘fad’ in the bud.

(News: Alhambra, Metropolitan Area, Granada, Andalucia)