Housing activists camp out in Plaça Catalunya demanding 'effective' solutions

Around 150 people gathered on Tuesday evening to camp out in Barcelona's Plaça Catalunya square as a form of protest to demand the "right to housing."

The demonstration follows the example of the protest underway since last Saturday at Madrid's Puerta del Sol.

Activists opened an Instagram account detailing the day's schedule, beginning with a welcome session, an assembly, a communal dinner, an open-mic session, and a working group session.

The camp-out starts on the same day that Spain's Council of Ministers approved two decrees on measures to tackle the housing crisis. These decrees will have to be put to a vote in Congress on Friday before they become effective, however.

Housing insecurity

Protesters maintain that the protest extends beyond the 'Maricarmen' housing decrees, and have not yet specified how long it might last, as that decision will be made in an assembly.

Arteko, one of the participants, explained this to the Catalan News Agency, asserting that the situation is "unsustainable" and lamenting that the decree fails to reach other groups who also need answers, such as the homeless.

He called for "effective" solutions rather than mere "cosmetic fixes for a social democracy that is increasingly in decline."

"I can't say we'll stay for 20 days or more, but what we're hearing in the assemblies and meetings is a sense of anger. The situation is unsustainable, and we have to stay and show that things cannot go on like this," Arteko added.

He described the decrees approved by the Spanish government on Tuesday as "worthless," insisting they fail to address other housing-related issues, such as rising homelessness.

Gemma, a 22-year-old from El Papiol, responded to the call to camp out and joined the group on Tuesday evening.

She explained that she was born in Sant Joan Despí, but that housing prices forced her family to move first to Molins de Rei and later to El Papiol.

"That is the main reason I am here, the insecurity my family faces, who have to pay rent because they cannot afford to own a home, and who suffer the violence inflicted when one ends up in such a vulnerable position."

She also expressed skepticism that the decrees approved by the Spanish government could solve the crisis, urging people to "make the most of the movement sparked by Maricarmen's eviction."