The Minister of Transport and Sustainable Mobility, Óscar Puente, has accused Isabel Díaz Ayuso of deliberately harming public transport users with the closure of the Sol Metro station. The decision of the Madrid government has led to a denial from the unions, to whom the president had attributed the request for closure, while Renfe keeps its Cercanías facilities open in the same interchange.
"She is a miserable and wicked person. She screws public transport users solely and exclusively out of malice. Her insides are black," Puente wrote on X, sharing Metro's announcement that blames the housing encampment for the accumulation of waste in the ventilation shafts. The minister focused his reproach on the consequences for travelers of a measure adopted in the midst of Ayuso's confrontation with the protest.
Es una persona miserable y malvada. Jode a los usuarios del transporte público única y exclusivamente por maldad. Tiene las entrañas negras. https://t.co/A6K9Vikn3l
— Óscar Puente (@oscar_puente_) October 16, 2026
The closure became effective at noon this Friday and affects lines 1, 2 and 3, whose trains stop making stops at Sol. The Community has not announced a reopening date and conditions it on cleaning and the reestablishment of safety conditions which, it maintains, have been compromised.
Unions deny Ayuso
Ayuso announced the closure during an interview on 'esRadio' with Federico Jiménez Losantos. "It has been requested by occupational risk prevention and the unions," she assured, before alleging that there are "unhealthy conditions inside." CCOO, UGT and Solidaridad Obrera have rejected that version through a joint statement in which they deny having requested the closure.
The organizations added that the works council was unaware of what had happened until the president's statements and denounced that they had not received "the measurements that they claim to have carried out by the Prevention Service, as is normally done on other occasions." Their denial questions the union support invoked by Ayuso and demands the technical documentation used to justify the closure.
The regional government maintains that high levels of ammonia have been detected due to the accumulation of urine, excrement and other organic waste which it attributes to the encampment. According to its explanation, it is necessary to clean the ventilation shafts and access the exterior grilles of the square. The Community maintains that its prevention and occupational health area has requested to stop activity until safety conditions are restored.
Renfe, for its part, has reported that it has not detected health problems in its Cercanías facilities or incidents related to the encampment. Its trains maintain their usual stops at Sol and travelers can access through the entrance known as 'the whale'. Both networks share an interchange, although they have their own facilities.
More pressure on the encampment
The closure was announced accompanied by new attacks by Ayuso on those protesting for access to housing. The president called them "buffoons" and assured that their presence will harm all commerce in the Centro district. She also blamed Pedro Sánchez for the situation, accusing him of wanting to keep Madrid "burst, stuck, uncomfortable" because, she stated, "he cannot stand that we are doing well."
The Community has been demanding the eviction for weeks and had already tried to obtain it through judicial channels. The Superior Court of Justice of Madrid rejected the precautionary measure requested as the alleged administrative inactivity against the Government Delegation was not proven. This Friday, the Minister of Housing, Transport and Infrastructure, Jorge Rodrigo, has again asked the delegate, Francisco Martín, to evict the encampment to facilitate the entry of cleaning teams.
The Delegation has demanded explanations for the impact of the closure on citizens and has asked for specific details on the risks and the reasons why they cannot be resolved with a cleaning compatible with the total or partial maintenance of the service. In addition, it has offered to coordinate the access of the teams with the Community, Metro and the Municipal and National police forces, for which it requests to identify the intervention points, the necessary vehicles and the obstacles that would impede the work.
The participants in the 26S encampment have also rejected Ayuso's accusations about the state of the square. Their cleaning committee assures that it maintains continuous tasks of collection and care of the space. "The Encampment is clean and we are constantly managing this issue," they stated in a communiqué.
