Police Halt Activist-Led "Toxic Tour" of Spain's "Dirtiest" Corporate Polluters Sponsoring COP25

In Spain, the country's biggest fossil fuel polluters are also some of the most generous sponsors for this year's U.N. climate talks. On Saturday, we joined activists on a "toxic tour" of Madrid from the Madrid stock exchange to Santander Bank. Activists explained that when Spanish President Pedro Sinchez announced that Spain would host COP25, he went to IBEX 35 - the 35 biggest listed companies in the Spanish stock exchange - offering them a 90% tax break on a $2 million sponsorship. Advocates say that these same companies "have deep and dirty links to the fossil fuel industry." But midway through, the police shut down the tour, threatening fines of over 3,000 euros if the peaceful tour did not disperse. Climate justice campaigner for Friends of the Earth International Hi(C)ctor de Prado says he was shocked and "ashamed" by the attempts by police to halt the tour. "It is not normal," he says.