New York Post

OK ON A TRAIN IN SPAIN?!

NY graffiti excuse

- By PRISCILLA DeGREGORY and MAX JAEGER

This ain’t Barcelona, fellas.

The three Spanish graffiti vandals busted last month for tagging MTA trains are claiming they thought it was OK to deface subways because it’s totally fine in their homeland.

“In my country [it] is not illegal to do graffiti,” Ignacio Dominguez-Robles told cops after his April 16 arrest, according to court documents.

“I am not a terrorist and I don’t know any,” said Manuel Cobano-Pareja in a statement to police. “In Barcelona it is not as serious as it is in New York City.”

And Ricardo EspinolaMa­rtinez, also mounted the

no se defense, adding: “I regret coming to New York and having painted the trains.r In Spain, it is normal aand not a serious crime.”

Now they should be well acquainted with the New York legal system — they were slapped with charges in Manhattan, The Bronx, Brooklyn and Queens.

The NYPD discovered their distinctiv­e “European- style” graffiti in the 168th Street subway station on April 11, and internatio­nal police organizati­on Interpol confirmed the tags — “Orus,” “Sen/Jabato” and “Tate/Asia” — belonged to the men.

Later the same day, an MTA security worker spotted them wearing masks in a car near the 148th Street station, according to court papers.

Cops caught the men posing for photos in front of freshly laid paint at Brooklyn’s Utica Avenue and arrested them on April 16. They cut plea deals in Manhattan and The Bronx, copping to misdemeano­r graffiti and mischief charges in exchange for time served and fines totalling $7,500.

“Mr. Robles is anxious to go home to Spain, where his family is. He is here facing these charges and is hoping to resolve them as soon as possible,” said his lawyer, James Kilduff.

Lawyers for CobanoPare­ja and Espinola-Martinez did not immediatel­y return requests for comment.

The trio still faces various graffiti, trespassin­g and criminal-mischief charges in Brooklyn and Queens.

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