Camping in Barcelona's Plaza de Cataluña for the Right to Housing

A hundred activists set up dozens of tents in Barcelona's Plaza de Cataluña to demand affordable housing. The action coincides with the camping at Puerta del Sol in Madrid and precedes a demonstration on Saturday in L'Hospitalet.

A hundred activists gathered on Tuesday night in Barcelona's Plaza de Cataluña and erected several dozen tents. The camping, called via social media by tenant unions and housing collectives, takes place in the same location where the 15-M movement was established fifteen years ago, as Ultima Hora has learned.

During the night, assemblies are scheduled to decide how the protest will continue. Some participants will spend the first night in the tents set up in the central Barcelona square.

The action comes days after the camping at Puerta del Sol in Madrid, which has served as a reference for the call in Barcelona. The organisers aim to highlight the housing access crisis and pressure the authorities.

The Sindicat de Llogateres, the Sindicat d'Habitatge Socialista de Catalunya (SHSC), and other entities have called for a demonstration on Saturday in L'Hospitalet de Llobregat. The protest will begin at 18:00 hours from Plaza de España in Barcelona, an hour before the official start, with a column moving to the meeting point.

Sources from the SHSC have explained that the mobilisation was initially called following the suicide of a woman after being evicted in L'Hospitalet. The union considers the approval of two separate decrees to be “a new failure of the parliamentary circus”.

“We are waiting to see the fine print of the decrees to determine whether they are a farce or not,” stated the spokesperson for the Sindicat de Llogateres, Carme Arcarazo.

Arcarazo has urged citizens to maintain mobilisations until real changes in the housing system are achieved. The union demands the ratification of indefinite contracts, a reduction in prices, and the expropriation of large landlords.

The camping in Barcelona will continue on Wednesday with new assemblies and activities. The organisers plan to maintain the protest until Saturday, when the demonstration in L'Hospitalet will mark the peak of the week of mobilisations for the right to housing.