Eco-warriors have said to have attacked 16 SUVs in Edinburgh in response to the devastating floods in Spain.
Activists from a group calling itself The Tyre Extinguishers said “outraged” locals took action in Edinburgh overnight in a bid to highlight SUVs’ role in causing “catastrophic” weather.
The action came after over 200 people died in flooding in Valencia. Searches continued on Monday (November 4) for bodies inside houses, garages and the thousands of vehicles strewn around the city’s streets.
Protesters targeted SUVs in the Scottish capital’s New Town neighbourhood, leaving images of Valencia flood victims on windscreens and deflating tyres.
One of the photos showed a car daubed with the words, “These cars kill Valencians”, while another read, “These cars kill kids”. Another appeared to show a hooded activist letting the air out of a tyre.
In a post on social media, the group vowed not to stop until “these death machines” are off the roads.
Priya, a Tyre Extinguisher in Edinburgh, said: “We hit 16 cars last night, and more planned. We call on all Tyre Extinguishers groups worldwide – in all 22 countries we now have groups in – to take action now to highlight the connection between climate death and SUV luxury emissions.
“Not enough is being done to highlight that disasters like Valencia have human causes. This is not a ‘natural’ disaster, it’s a disaster fuelled by our governments being enslaved by the fossil fuel and car lobbies.
“We need emergency action now to bring an end to SUV emissions, and if governments don’t do it, then it’s up to citizens to do it for them.
“If we can’t stop such obvious and extravagant forms of world-wrecking, so obviously harmful and such pure vanity, then what’s the point in even pretending we’re in a crisis? We owe this to Valencians and to our kids.”
The group cited an International Energy Agency (IEA) report, which said if SUVs were a country, they would be the world’s fifth largest emitter of CO2.
According to the IEA, SUVs accounted for 48 percent of global car sales in 2023. It said: “SUVs weigh 200-300kg more than an average medium-sized car, and typically take up nearly 0.3 m2 more space – emitting roughly 20% more carbon dioxide emissions”.
Storms in eastern Spain led to massive flooding last week, killing at least 217 people, mostly near Valencia. More rain was dumped on Barcelona on Monday, prompting authorities to suspend rail services.
Spain’s Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska said authorities can still not give a reliable estimate of the number of those missing in Valencia.
Many people feel abandoned by authorities, with anger erupting on Sunday (November 3) when a crowd threw mud at Spain’s King Felipe and Queen Letizia, the prime minister and regional leaders as they made their first visit to Paiporta, where over 60 people died.
Spain is used to autumn storms which can lead to flooding, but the latest have produced the deadliest flooding in living memory for Spaniards.
Climate scientists and meteorologists have said the immediate cause of the flooding was a cut-off lower-pressure storm system, which migrated from an unusually wavy and stalled jet stream.
It was likely fuelled by a record-hot Mediterranean Sea. The lower-pressure storm system parked itself over the region and unleashed a devastating deluge.
