Demonstration and camping in Madrid after the eviction of Maricarmen to demand measures against the housing crisis

The eviction of Maricarmen in Madrid due to the housing crisis has been the trigger for the demonstration that took place this Saturday in the center of the capital and which culminated in a camp in Puerta del Sol to demand that a proposal called "Maricarmen decree" be approved immediately in the Council of Ministers next Tuesday, which includes a series of structural measures against evictions.

"We have taken to the streets to demand from the Government that we are not going to hold out any longer, that on Tuesday the 'Maricarmen decree' has to come out as a first step, but that is not the end, we have camped in Sol and we are going to continue until the end," announced the organizers of the protest, the Tenants' Union, at the end of the demonstration, which passed peacefully from Puerta del Sol to the Congress of Deputies under the slogan 'Not one more Maricarmen'.

After the massive mobilization - supported by 300,000 people, according to organizers; 25,000, according to the Government Delegation—, the Madrid Tenants Union has called on attendees to camp in Puerta del Sol in the purest style of the camp that took place on May 15, 2011, where the 15-M movement germinated. Hundreds of people have spontaneously supported this call and have set up their tents in front of the headquarters of the Community of Madrid.

Throughout the demonstration's route through the center of the capital, notable intergenerational attendance has been confirmed, with the coordinated presence of families, young people and senior groups.

During the journey, attendees chanted and displayed banners with slogans such as "Where is the progressive Government?" or "We want to see Maricarmen return", and also criticism against the local and regional administrations. Other proclamations addressed to the financial and institutional sector have also been read, such as "A rent strike is needed, a general strike is needed", "Madrid will be the tomb of rentism", or "Vulture expropriation funds".

The spokesperson for the Madrid Tenants' Union, Alicia del Río, has stated that Maricarmen's case has represented a "point of no return" in the fight for housing in Spain and has demanded that the Government immediately approve this Tuesday the so-called 'maricarmen royal decree'.