Popular camping trips rarely end when one decides to end them. Rather, people end when they end. 26S exceeded 15M on the day and said goodbye with a manifesto, a statement and a “shift to the neighborhood”. Despite this, the police entered the premises this morning and started evacuating the sleeping people. We have already told how he was born, what happened to the Almeida census and what he owed to 15M. The last was missing, leading to an arrest.
3 am According to sources in the government delegation, 220 agents of the National Police and 180 municipal police entered the square with firefighters and social services. They evicted 334 people and arrested 2 for insubordination and resistance. According to police sources the number is lower: about 200 have been identified.
The city council’s cleaning services remove the shops and take them to the municipal warehouse, waiting for whoever can claim them (or proceed to destroy them). There is a difference of 134 between one number and the other: Sol’s usual problem, that no one counts the same. Meanwhile, the City Council is working to restore the square to its normal state, and crews are removing the remains of the encampment, as seen in the title image.
Two stories. Camp accounts denounced violent interventions, beatings and pepper spray, injuring several. The delegation replied that the eviction took place without violence. Police added that most of the campers left on their own.
For rigor, what was missing was the camera to see. The webcams broadcasting to the square were shut down on the first night of the camp, and the company attributed it to technical reasons (no one confirmed a connection to the protest). We at Xataka have verified that they are back on air as of this morning. But while they were closed, there was a lack of an open source, depriving citizens of valuable visual information due to the nature of the camping social movement.
One month wear. Let us remember that the camp was born after the protest against the eviction of 87-year-old Marycarmen on September 26. It reaches more than 40 groups. And the figures never added up: from 500 shops on 30 September, it dropped to around 1,800 ten days later, when the police union claimed many were sleeping empty.
Furthermore, the Tenants’ Union moved on October 2 and the message spread. Further to the conflict, on 25 October, the government representative, Francisco Martín, resigned after being dropped from the PSOE list for 29N. He was replaced by Pilar Trinidad.
Countdown. Before leaving, Martin sent a letter to the campers: A “reasonable amount of time” had passed. On October 29, a second notice came out requiring the structures to be removed. On the 30th, spokesmen announced the dissolution of the commission. On the 31st, the movement announced its “movement” to the neighborhood in preparation for a general strike. Only the homeless commission and a group who did not belong to an organization but wanted to stay were still in the square.
official version. The delegation defends evacuation as a “last resort”. He maintains that there are limits to the right of assembly and that the nature of camping trips changes when the organizers are gone. It also talks about alleged criminal acts. He stressed that he prioritized dialogue and voluntary withdrawal before sending in agents. According to their statement, the remaining group refused to leave the square.
Political reading. The Madrid PP sees this as a move. Its spokesman in the Assembly, Carlos Díaz-Pache, assured that the government is now evacuating because the camping is no longer useful for PSOE campaigns. He also stressed that the delegation’s statement acknowledged the issues of safety, unsanitary and loss of heritage. Ayuso posted a photo of the garbage-strewn square and summed up the dilemma between “communism and freedom.”
Invoices and messages. Almeida spoke of 38 days of occupation and losses of more than 30 million euros for trade, “a new bill for Sanchismo”. It does not explain how it calculated the figure and it is important to remember that the City Council had already issued the 30 million payment a week ago, in the plenary session, so the account did not increase. The Cocem agency estimates around 25 million and the CEIM employers’ association reports a drop of up to 70% in some businesses, but an independent measure with a public approach is missing.
the court However, the regional government will file a criminal complaint against Martin for administrative complications and abdication of responsibility to prosecute crimes. This joins Vox and another that Almeida announced. The Jupole Police Union believes the eviction comes too late and has only served to divert attention.
other places Not the only camping trip on Sol 26S, it doesn’t end the same way as the others. Oviedo 23 days later, a protest promoted by the Tenants’ Union, the Asturias Housing Union and the Sock Assembly of Asturias, and called a strike at 11N. Seville, in Las Cetas, closes in mid-October.
Barcelona resists: about 500 stores according to organizers, about 400 according to other media. Their spokeswoman, Kiara Monroy, confirmed that they will stay at least until 29N and if they are evicted, they will occupy any square, space or building. Indeed, on October 23, Mossos evacuated an empty block occupied by camp members and reported 19 people.
What now. Sol’s commission claims, among their victories, the calling of early elections. And although the square once again belongs to the city council, tourists and traders, there are 8 days left for the general strike on November 11 and 26 days for the election on the 29th. The people will have the final say.
Picture | X/ Zarateman for Wikimedia Commons
In Xataka | What is the “Marycarmen Decree” and why it threatens to turn housing into a new engine of 15-M
