The encampment for the right to housing in Palma grows and prepares for a new day of mobilization

PalmaThe encampment for the right to housing at Plaça d'Espanya in Palma woke up this Wednesday with more tents and more people than the night before. The protest, which began in the early hours of Monday to Tuesday following the massive demonstration in support of Maricarmen at Plaça de Cort, thus continues to gain participants and is preparing for a new day of activities.

The campers plan to maintain the protest over the coming days, awaiting the evolution of the mobilizations taking place in Madrid following the eviction of Maricarmen, an 87-year-old woman who had lived in the same home for more than seven decades. The intention of the participants in Palma is to continue the encampment and decide on the next steps through open assemblies.

This Wednesday's schedule will include various activities at Plaça d'Espanya. At 4:00 PM there is a banner-making workshop planned, while at 5:30 PM there will be a circus show. At 6:30 PM a new open assembly is convened, in which participants will address the continuation of the encampment and possible actions for the coming days. The protest also wants to continue calling for the participation of civil society. The increase in the number of tents overnight comes after several people have approached the square over the last few hours to support the campers, provide food or other materials, and explain their own difficulties in accessing housing.

Tuesday's assembly decides to maintain the encampment

The decision to continue with the protest was taken this Tuesday afternoon during an open assembly in which about fifty people participated. The attendees expressed their misgivings regarding the housing measures approved by the Spanish Government and, especially, regarding the fact that the initiatives have been divided into two decrees. During the assembly, it was questioned whether this division could make it easier for part of the measures not to pass the vote in Congress. The participants also considered that, although indefinite contracts may represent an “advance”, they are “insufficient” given the scale of the housing crisis.

Some of the attendees also criticized that the debate on the so-called “vulture funds” does not focus enough, in their opinion, on large holders. The situation of the Islands also occupied part of the debate. Some participants questioned why the Balearic Government, of the PP, refuses to declare the Islands as a stressed area because it considers that this measure would not be effective in reducing rental prices.

“If we don't join forces here and change the (Balearic) Government, it will be useless,” stated a young woman during the meeting. The assembly also raised the possibility of studying the necessary mechanisms for a possible general strike for the right to housing, in addition to new mobilizations during the weekend in Palma.

A protest that looks towards Madrid

The Palma encampment is inspired by the mobilizations that have been set in motion these days in other parts of the State, especially in Madrid, where the protest following Maricarmen's eviction has turned Puerta del Sol into one of the main centers of mobilization for the right to housing.

In Palma, the protest began on the night from Monday to Tuesday, when a group of people who had participated in the gathering at Plaça de Cort moved to Plaça d'Espanya and decided to set up the first tents there to give continuity to the mobilization. About thirty people spent the first night there, and the participants organized themselves into shifts to ensure the continuity of the action.

Now, two nights later, the number of tents has increased and more people have joined the encampment, which maintains its activity autonomously and is waiting to see how the mobilization in Madrid evolves. The participants in Palma maintain contact with other movements for the right to housing, but the encampment operates independently of the Platform for People Affected by Mortgages (PAH), the Palma Housing Union, and the Mallorca Tenants' Union.