The Tenants' Union, promoter of the encampment set up in the Puerta del Sol since last September 26 after the eviction of Maricarmen Abascal, has accused this Friday the president of the Community of Madrid, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, of "criminalizing" this movement after the order to close the Sol Metro station due to "unhealthy" conditions.
In statements to the media in the gardens of the Rectorate of the Complutense University of Madrid, the spokesperson for the Tenants' Union, Valeria Racú, has maintained that Ayuso "is not knowing how to read society" or "understand" that it demands improvements in housing, health, and public education. "If she wants to close the Metro, well, there she is demonstrating her wonderful management of public resources," she criticized.
The Sol encampment and the defense of public space
Racú has lamented the "important" campaign of "criminalization and delegitimization of the protest," both regarding the Sol encampment and the strike for public education. "They are trying to create a breeding ground because it is clearly starting to scare them that society is organizing itself," she argued.
Regarding the encampment, the spokesperson recalled that the Tenants' Union has disassociated itself from that initiative, and specified that it will be the social movement that remains there that decides on its continuity, if it considers that it continues to be "a useful tool." In any case, she rejected talk of an image of "maximum degradation" after the dissemination of videos in which the use of the fountain of the statue of Carlos III as a bathing area is appreciated.
"Public spaces are for use, so I think we don't have to dwell on that anecdotal thing," she indicated, recalling that "it was a hot day" and that "there was a fountain." "It continues to be a wonderful place where many people have met, where we have once again shown that we can believe in another way of organizing life, where life is above profit, specifically in housing, but also in health, public education, and so on," she added.
Racú attacks the PSOE and housing policy
Asked about reports suggesting that Montse Mínguez's husband manages a real estate holding company with about thirty homes in which he would have carried out evictions, as well as about the case of eviction from a Muface home, which depends on Minister Óscar López, Racú stressed that "it is no surprise" because the PSOE "has always been a rentier party."
In that vein, she recalled that the socialists have been "behind a Housing Law with many loopholes precisely to continue promoting rentism and real estate speculation." In the case of public housing that depends on the State, she added, "what comes out of their mouth does not apply."
"If we have managed to change their discourse or propose some measures that a few months ago they were not even considering, it is due to the strength of the streets and popular power. We must be very clear about that," she concluded.
