The camp at Puerta del Sol in Madrid begins to prepare its withdrawal after 29 days of protests to demand solutions to the housing crisis in Spain. Participants have started this Sunday, October 25, the preparations to dismantle part of the tarps, tents, and camping gear that have occupied the emblematic Madrid square since the end of September, although there is still no definitive agreement or official announcement establishing when the concentration will conclude. According to El País, several sources from the organization have confirmed that there is a growing consensus on the need to initiate a gradual withdrawal, a process that could extend over several days and that must be specified in the assemblies planned for this afternoon.
The decision comes at a time when the mobilization has surpassed the duration of the historic 15-M camp of 2011 and when some participants consider it necessary to move the protest to a new phase. The main objective is to concentrate efforts on the general strike for the right to housing called for November 11, just 18 days before the general elections. Although some groups advocate for maintaining a permanent presence in Sol, others believe that the concentration has already succeeded in placing the difficulties of access to housing at the center of the political agenda and that the time has come to extend the demands to the neighborhoods and municipalities of Madrid.
The campers begin to organize the withdrawal, but there is still no official date
According to the information published this Sunday by El País, the members of the commissions responsible for coordinating the camp are already working on the planning of the dismantling. One of the participants has described this day as the "day zero" of the process, although he has acknowledged that there are still pending issues to resolve. The assemblies convened for the afternoon must determine the exit schedule, the distribution of tasks, and whether some groups remain in the square while the main structures are removed.
The operation will not be immediate. During the last four weeks, the protesters have set up a camp made up of hundreds of tents, tarps, common areas, and spaces designated for organizing activities and distributing food. Their removal requires dismantling the structures, collecting the materials, and cleaning the occupied spaces. The participants also intend to distribute among other social organizations the products they have received through donations, including food, warm clothing, and tools, so that they can continue to be used in initiatives supporting vulnerable people.
Although in recent days the number of tents has decreased and some of the structures installed on the streets of Arenal and Preciados have already disappeared, the camp remains active and maintains part of its usual activities. The immediate future will depend on the collective decisions made, since not all participants agree on the convenience of completely abandoning Puerta del Sol.
The protest was born after the eviction of Maricarmen and has surpassed the duration of the 15-M
The camp began during the night of September 26, 2026, driven by the Tenants' Union, after the eviction of Maricarmen Abascal, an 87-year-old woman who was expelled from her usual home on September 23 and passed away approximately two weeks later. Her case triggered a wave of indignation and mobilization in Madrid that ended up becoming a permanent protest against evictions, high rental prices, and difficulties in accessing housing.
What began as a protest concentration grew into an organized structure with assemblies, working commissions, and spaces for attending to participants. The camp came to gather more than a thousand tents and had the collaboration of different social groups and union organizations. During these weeks, cultural activities, political meetings, and neighborhood gatherings were also held, while the protesters demanded measures to guarantee the constitutional right to decent housing.
The mobilization has had consequences in the national political debate. The Government of Pedro Sánchez approved two decrees on housing after the start of the protests, although both were subsequently rejected by Congress, which contributed to worsening the parliamentary crisis that led to the early call for elections on November 29. Housing has since become one of the main issues of the electoral pre-campaign.
The concern for homeless people complicates the dismantling
One of the problems that the organizers will have to resolve is what will happen to the homeless people who have settled in the camp during the last few weeks. The camp has not only functioned as a space for demands but also as a place where vulnerable people have found temporary shelter, food, and some protection against the low nighttime temperatures.
According to El País, the participants consider it necessary to find alternatives before completing the withdrawal, as the disappearance of the tents could leave those without another place to sleep without that support. The presence of these people has also generated internal debates about the objectives of the concentration and the limits of the assistance that can be provided by a citizen movement organized through volunteers.
This issue adds to the accumulated wear after almost a month of protests. The rains, the drop in temperatures, and the difficulties in sustaining the daily functioning of the settlement have caused some participants to progressively leave the square, while others defend continuing the mobilization until concrete political commitments are achieved.
The Almeida City Council demands the camp be lifted and claims cleaning expenses
The possible withdrawal coincides with a new offensive from the Madrid City Council, governed by José Luis Martínez-Almeida, against the permanence of the camp. The municipal delegate for Urbanism, Environment, and Mobility, Borja Carabante, has again demanded this Sunday that the Government Delegation intervene to put an end to the concentration, considering that it has ceased to be a protest about housing to become an irregular settlement.
Carabante has also accused the president of the Government of allowing the continuation of the camp for political interest, an interpretation that he has not supported with evidence of a direct intervention by Sánchez in the decisions of the protesters. The municipal official has mentioned the harm to merchants, neighbors, and activities organized in the center of the capital, among them the Fiesta de la Trashumancia, whose route had to be modified this year due to the occupation of the square.
For its part, the City Council is also considering claiming from those responsible for the possible damages the costs derived from the cleaning and repair of Sol. The deputy mayor, Inma Sanz, has defended that the costs should not fall on the people of Madrid, although the municipal Government has not yet explained what procedure it would use to demand those amounts or how it would identify those responsible for each damage.
The general strike on November 11, the next objective of the protesters
The preparation for the dismantling does not necessarily mean the end of the demands. The groups participating in the protest want to transfer part of the organization built in Sol to the neighborhoods and concentrate their efforts on the general strike on Wednesday, November 11, called by organizations such as the Confederation of Tenant Unions, CCOO, UGT, CGT, and CNT, among others.
The call aims to denounce the impact of housing prices on salaries and demand measures that facilitate access to a home. The organizers seek to maintain social mobilization beyond the physical presence in Puerta del Sol and take advantage of the collaboration networks created in recent weeks to promote new actions in different parts of Spain.
In this way, the camp that began on September 26 is approaching a possible farewell after having placed the housing crisis at the center of political debate. The withdrawal will still have to be specified in the assemblies this Sunday, and it is not ruled out that some participants will keep their tents in the square. However, the beginning of preparations marks a change of stage for a movement that, almost a month after occupying kilometer zero of Madrid, seeks new ways to continue its demands in view of the November 11 and the general elections on November 29.