Social mobilization usually anticipates cycle changes. All it takes is a spark, a reason that triggers collective unrest until they break out into protest. And that is the eviction of Maricarmen Abascal. "Progressive, hypocritical and rentier government," exclaimed some of the thousands of citizens who yesterday took to the streets raising the drama of this woman as a symbol of the problems of access to housing and which led, 15 years after 15-M, to a camp in Sol. A crisis that now explodes in a Government of PSOE and Sumar under pressure to carry out a decree so that there is "not one more Maricarmen", as claimed by the central motto of the mobilization. The call to the camp, distributed from mobile phone to mobile phone, raised the tone: "Either rentism falls, or the Government falls."
"We do not tolerate one more eviction", "Guilty urban management, responsible government"; "This situation is unsustainable and nobody moves a finger here," cried the protesters, who numbered 300,000 according to their organizers and were 25,000 according to figures from the Government Delegation in Madrid.
After a week of intense controversy and clashes of horns on the political level after the launching of this 87-year-old woman in the Madrid district of Retiro, a crowd yesterday expressed its satiety against the Executive of Pedro Sánchez and also against the regional government of Isabel Díaz Ayuso and Mayor José Luis Martínez Almeida. The feeling is one of total neglect of functions: "No one moves a finger."
But if the crisis has exploited anyone in a particularly bitter way, it is the PSOE. His social base accuses him of "institutionalizing" and "abstaining from housing proposals", in the middle of his negotiation with Junts to carry out the Royal Decree Law on which he is working and that the minority partner, Sumar, wants to approve in the Council of Ministers next Tuesday. The requests of the neoconvergents still do not fully match what they ask of the left of the PSOE, where they warn: "No excuses or discounts."
And both the magenta party and Podemos have put pressure on the Government's pending tasks in terms of housing. Yesterday Sumar distanced himself from the PSOE by threatening not to attend the next Council of Ministers if the decree is not approved. And in statements during the demonstration called by the Confederation of Tenant Unions, the political secretary of Podemos and candidate for the general elections, Irene Montero, took the opportunity to delve into the gap that separates the left: «The Government is negotiating with Junts to make a mess of all the people who are here today defending the right to housing, and we are not going to accept it. This time the trick has to be for the rentiers and the speculators. “Houses are for living,” he added.
"Minister, rentier, you are on our list." The protesters shouted against the Minister of Housing, Isabel Rodríguez, and the central government. They blamed him for ignoring citizens' requests and joining the "rentistas", whom they blame for the current crisis. Young people led the mobilization, showing that they are one of the most affected groups, but the protest was transversal to many generations. They all demanded measures against launches and real estate speculation, clearly agitated.
The residential emergency is one of the reasons that causes certain emotional pressure on citizens. A general indignation that, paraphrasing Simone Weil, is the energy available to the parties to convert the Maricarmen case into political ammunition. And the massive concentration, in which shouts of "Where is the progressive Government?" or "Minister, work, defend our house," was set in a pre-electoral context in which partisan struggles, and especially in the political space of the left, show that the case transcends the drama of an eviction.
Both Podemos and Sumar - already immersed in a process of brand transformation to compete in the next general elections - have used the housing crisis to clash with the PSOE and deepen the gap on the left, gaining support from socialist bases dissatisfied with the Government's inaction.
In addition to the criticism of Ayuso, the pressure on the Government has been the tone of the entire route, which has run from Puerta del Sol and the entrance to Congress. “It is a point of no return,” said Tenants Union spokesperson Alicia del Río. The leader of the demonstration charged against Ayuso and Almeida. "Mrs. Ayuso, find out: if I don't have a house, I will occupy your house," they exclaimed. "It's not my responsibility, you bullshit," read the letter carried by a person disguised as the president.
The discomfort with the purchase of the controversial penthouse in Chamberí by the Community of Madrid became evident again, as was seen on Wednesday when 15,000 people gathered in front of the property. Yesterday the protest took over Sol, in front of the Madrid president's headquarters. "Either they beat us out, or we stay here," declared those present.
