The Madrid City Council joins the Ayuso Government in requesting the eviction of the housing encampment installed in Puerta del Sol

The Madrid City Council has formally required this Tuesday the Government Delegation to adopt, "immediately", the measures within its reach to dissolve the encampment installed since Saturday in the Puerta del Sol, in protest of the housing situation.

The letter, addressed to the Government delegate, Francisco Martín, was sent by the deputy mayor, delegate for Security and Emergencies and municipal spokesperson, Inma Sanz, as a prior requirement between administrations under the protection of article 44 of the Law regulating the Contentious-Administrative Jurisdiction. The City Council also warns that, if the Government Delegation does not adopt measures for the "restoration of legality", it will undertake the appropriate legal actions.

The encampment, without known communication or authorization

In the document, the Madrid City Council maintains that the encampment currently constitutes a "protest concentration" without communication or authorization of which it has knowledge, and considers that it cannot be treated as a mere spontaneous occupation of public thoroughfare. According to the City Council, the situation is causing mobility difficulties and poses a risk to the campers and the environment in the event of an incident.

The protest began after the demonstration for the right to housing held on Saturday. According to the account included in the municipal requirement, shortly before 9:00 p.m. the Municipal Police detected that about 200 people were deploying between 30 and 40 tents in Sol and requested the intervention of the National Police on two occasions. Subsequently, a part of the demonstrators would have modified the communicated route to return to the square.

The City Council also assures that during the early morning it proposed a joint action to the National Police to "restore normality", but that this did not happen. According to the version recorded in the letter, the National Police Corps stated that there were instructions to consider the situation as an occupation of public thoroughfare.

Risk of a possible evacuation in Puerta del Sol

One of the main arguments of the Madrid City Council to demand the eviction is the safety of Puerta del Sol. The requirement warns that the current configuration of the encampment could hinder an evacuation in case of emergency and have "drastic consequences" for both the concentrated individuals themselves and for passers-by, workers, and businesses in the area.

The City Council thus focuses on the risks associated with a protest that occupies public space, while leaving in the background the demand that led it there: access to decent housing. Since Saturday, the mobilization has kept a problem in the center of Madrid that affects thousands of people and that, for its participants, cannot be resolved simply by evicting the place where a political response is demanded.