The four activists painted "Quit Coal" in English and Spanish on the side of the 190-metre (627-foot) long Windsor Adventure, which was transporting 54,000 tonnes of coal to the industrial city of Gijon.

"The message from today's action is simple: to tackle climate change, Europe needs to end its outdated dependency on coal," Greenpeace International climate campaigner Agnes de Rooij said in a statement.

The action comes as the European Parliament, the only directly elected European Union body, prepares to vote on Wednesday on the 27-nation bloc's response to climate change.

Greenpeace wants the EU to block construction of over 50 new coal-fired plants in Europe as part of measures to cut greenhouse gas emissions by at least 30 percent by 2020.

The Spanish government imports 24 million tonnes of coal and provides 2.5 billion euros (3.4 billion dollars) in state aid to the coal industry every year, according to a report by Greenpeace Spain released Monday.

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