The Mayor of Madrid, José Luis Martínez-Almeida, reiterated this Wednesday that the Police "cannot do their job" at the encampment set up in Puerta del Sol, which, in his view, has now become "a lawless place" where "homeless people, street vendors who hide all illegal merchandise and where there has been a sexual assault" coexist.
During his intervention at the 'Desayunos Madrid' of Europa Press, the mayor recounted an episode in which, in the middle of the pursuit of a suspect, "the suspect got inside the Sol tents and an alleged security service of the encampment prevented the Police from being able to enter". In this context, he emphasized that "I care rather little about the general assembly of those who are there" and insisted that the relevant thing is that the officers cannot access freely.
Almeida emphasized that "alleged security service" organized by the campers, whom he blames for hindering the Police from "being able to do their job" and identifying any suspect "of having committed some crime or offense". For this reason, he rejected that it is a "peaceful, hippie or protest" encampment and described it as "a lawless place in which the Police cannot do their job".
Along these lines, he lamented that "it is not just that citizens cannot go there, it is that even the police cannot enter there without a self-styled security service for the encampment preventing it", reproaching that the action of the Security Forces and Corps is being limited in the very center of the capital.
He asks Trinidad to dismantle the Sol encampment
Given this situation, the mayor has asked the new Government delegate in the Community of Madrid, Pilar Trinidad, to "not follow in the footsteps of her predecessor" and to order that the encampment be removed "immediately", in addition to asking her to "listen to the Police". According to what he has indicated, "the Police are telling her and the one who was there before that this has to be taken down".
Martínez-Almeida has also drawn attention to the economic impact that, according to the merchants in the area, the encampment is having on the businesses in the zone. They have told the City Council that they are already suffering a drop "of 30% in their income" compared with the same period of the previous year, precisely as the Christmas campaign approaches, one of the periods with the highest sales volume.
The councilor has explained that "there is some business that has already had to lay off someone and we are approaching the Christmas season which accounts for approximately between 70 and 80% of everything they generate throughout the year. That is, let’s think it’s not only 30%, it’s 30% if this encampment continues about 70-80% of everything they generate during the year". In his opinion, the maintenance of the camp can further worsen the situation of these businesses.
For this reason, he has censured that those who say they come to "defend the workers" are, in practice, causing layoffs and placing small and medium-sized businesses in the area around Puerta del Sol in "serious economic difficulties".