Madrid camp in Puerta del Sol dismantled after 38 days of protest

In the early hours of Tuesday, however, the Madrid government delegation and municipal police cleared the square of the remaining 334 people. The operation resulted in two arrests.

Acampada 26S, the organisation leading the movement, said the protest will continue in a different form. It described the move as a "relocation" to neighbourhoods, where campaigners aim to turn the initiative into a broader social and working-class movement.

The organisation also alleged that several female protesters had suffered injuries during the police operation as a result of officers' blows and the use of pepper spray. The government delegation, by contrast, said that "the eviction took place without violence".

"Beyond Puerta del Sol, we support the general strike on 11 November," Acampada 26S' manifesto says.

The movement's new roadmap therefore leads towards the nationwide walkout, called by the tenants' union and backed by Comisiones Obreras (CCOO), UGT and other trade unions. The tenants' union led the protests over Maricarmen's eviction and gave the camp a public voice during its first days. The strike also fulfils one of the protesters' main demands from the outset: bringing the country to a standstill to demand the right to housing.

A week before Tuesday's clearance, 'Punky', a young camper who prefers to use a pseudonym, said: "If we hold out until the general strike, the camp will have been worthwhile." His words underlined the protest's central objective.

The tenants' union stepped back from the camp after the general election was called and the main trade union organisations announced the strike. It said it wanted to "focus on preparing and organising the walkout".

The camp has closed just over a month after the eviction of Maricarmen Abascal. The elderly Madrid resident had lived in her home for seven decades but lost it because she could not afford a new rental contract. Her eviction sparked the protest: that same night, demonstrators set up camp in Puerta del Sol to draw attention to Spain's housing crisis.

"We haven't achieved anything yet," said Antonio, a pensioner who joined the Puerta del Sol camp after his own eviction. Even so, he acknowledged that the month-long protest in the square had "taken some small steps forward".

María, a young woman who did not sleep at the camp but spent most of her days there, put Antonio's point into context. "Without us, those decrees would never have been issued," she stated.

Protesters in Sol still remember the demonstration they held outside Spain's Congreso de Diputados on 2 October. They denounced what they called "armed robberies by landlord investors" while MPs debated housing decrees in the chamber.

The government accelerated its proposals in response to the scale of the protests following Maricarmen's eviction. However, the measures failed to secure enough votes, and the lower house rejected all the decrees.

After Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez's government dissolved parliament and called a general election for 29 November, the measures did not simply remain stuck in Congreso. Cabinet approved the decrees in a second attempt and they are now awaiting approval by Diputación Permanente.

The government designed the measures to tackle the housing crisis. They include suspending evictions involving people in vulnerable circumstances and restricting the acquisition of homes by so-called vulture funds.

For Saúl, a 19-year-old camper, however, the proposals amount to "crumbs that are no use to anyone". Even so, they represent the progress Antonio described.

During the 30 days when Puerta del Sol filled with tents and banners demanding "decent housing for everyone", the camp also attracted controversy.

On 25 October, for example, the National Police arrested a 26-year-old man over the alleged sexual assault of a 22-year-old woman inside one of the tents.

Sol metro station also closed for an entire day after the regional government ordered "cleaning and safety work". The authorities cited unhygienic conditions caused by "a build-up of urine, faeces and other organic waste in ventilation shafts and access points".

The campers have dismissed the accounts surrounding both incidents as "fake news". Andrea, who like María spent her days at the camp but did not sleep there, said: "Are there people who might take advantage of all this in the wrong way? Of course there are, but they are not part of the camp."

The young woman from Madrid believes people have created a negative image of the protesters through "a lot of lies claiming that the only people who come here are homeless people who want to drink and smoke".

Antonio offered a different picture of life in the square: "There are young people here fighting for housing, people working remotely, groups of friends. Everyone gets on very well."

Punky, however, gave a more mixed assessment when asked about the days he had spent at the camp. He sighed before replying: "Getting along… Well… We try to keep things friendly. We do what we can."

As 11 November and the general strike approach, the Puerta del Sol protesters remain convinced that, as Andrea put it, "the longer the protest goes on, the stronger its purpose becomes".

Maricarmen, who died on 7 October, remains a symbol of the movement's campaign for better housing conditions. Just a week before the final clearance of the square, the campers were still insisting, as Antonio put it, that "the protest has gained strength over time".

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