Camping for housing in Barcelona: 360 tents according to the City Council

The City Council counts 360 tents in Plaça de Catalunya and the organisation over 600. The Mossos d'Esquadra have evicted the block on Calabria 177 for a flagrant offence.

Three weeks after its installation, the camp now occupies the entire Plaça de Catalunya in concentric circles. The municipal count speaks of 360 tents, while the organisation claims they exceed 600. The difference indicates the scale of the operation that would be needed to dismantle it.

The area is fenced off around its perimeter except for two entry and exit points. Inside, there is a kitchen with butane stoves, a pantry, a communal clothing cupboard, a workshop with generators, a health point, portable toilets, and a shower.

The removal of the awnings from the central area was interpreted in some offices as the beginning of the dismantling. The spokesperson for the camp, Kiara Monroy, denies this and asserts that people have seen the plastics being moved and think they are leaving.

We are not leaving, we are improving the space.

Police sources admit doubts about the current nature of the camp since the Sindicat de Llogateres joined and then withdrew to focus on the general strike on November 11. The City Council places housing as the primary concern of citizens in all surveys and, for now, has not made a decision regarding the camp.

The campers entered number 177 on Calle Calabria, an abandoned block where homeless people lived. The Mossos d'Esquadra evicted the building for a flagrant offence, adding a criminal dimension to the conflict.

The PP, through its municipal spokesperson, Sonia Devesa, states that they do not question the right to protest, but rather the appropriation of public space. Vox speaks of permissiveness and Junts demands a channel for dialogue.

In the Security commission, the PP called for an end to the protest with a joint operation by the Guardia Urbana and the Mossos. The proposal did not pass: Vox supported it, Junts abstained, and the PSC, Barcelona en Comú, and ERC voted against it.

The Deputy Mayor for Security, Albert Batlle, rejected an immediate police response.

They propose a police response to a social issue.

Batlle added that the City Council is prepared to reclaim the usual use of the square if necessary, but not in the manner proposed by the PP. The Guardia Urbana and the Mossos are monitoring the camp, and without the Sindicat in the square, according to the source, the interlocutors are harder to identify.

Seven streetlights have been off for two nights. The municipal government explains that the supply was cut for safety reasons after the Bombers detected an illegal connection to the electrical network. The first two were disconnected on Thursday, October 15, during the Plaça Nostra Fest festival.

Monroy denies any internal manipulation and points out that an outsider could have caused the cut to generate conflict. The organisation sent a formal request on October 7 to access the electrical network, drinking water, and toilets, and claims to have received no response.

Plaça de Catalunya is one of the main transport hubs in Barcelona, and police commanders are concerned about the general strike on November 11. A fenced area with only two entrances at that point is the scenario that worries them the most.