The mayor of Madrid, José Luis Martínez-Almeida, has announced that on this very day he will send a new document to the Government delegate in Madrid, Francisco Martín, and to the Minister of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, in which, as he explained, the presence in the Sol encampment of cobblestones located in tents and extracted from nearby construction sites, as well as large knives that are not necessary to cut a sandwich, is accredited.
From Valdebebas and accompanied by the delegate for Security and Emergencies, Inma Sanz, Almeida told the media that the objective of this new communication is for Martín to comment on “whether he still considers it a peaceful encampment”.
The City Council questions the peaceful nature of the protest
The Madrid mayor has stated that the City Council has been able to accredit that part of the members of the encampment have stockpiled cobblestones from nearby construction sites, and has stressed that he does not consider these materials to be peaceful, but rather that they can be used as “projectiles”.
In the same vein, Almeida has assured that the City Council has documented the existence of “large knives inside the Puerta del Sol encampment”, an extreme that, in his opinion, reinforces municipal concern for the safety of the space.
Stoves, altercations and risk to public order
The mayor added that to these elements is added the apparent presence of stoves for heating food, a circumstance that, as he explained, entails risk. In addition, he pointed out that “already violent altercations” have already occurred and that all these episodes will be reported today by the Madrid City Council to the Government delegate.
“To which is added that it seems that there are also stoves for heating food, with the risk that this entails, at the same time that already violent altercations have occurred and we have all seen some of these examples, which we are going to report today from the Madrid City Council to the Government delegate in case he still considers this to be a peaceful encampment and that there is no risk to public order and security,” Almeida explained.