Madrid Officials Ordered to Sleep in Puerta del Sol Tents Until Housing Decrees Are Approved
In a move to force a housing deal, Spain's government has ordered every minister and MP to live in the Puerta del Sol encampment until the 'Maricarmen decree' passes, turning the protest into a mandatory sleepover for the powerful.
Spain's Council of Ministers has issued a binding order requiring every minister, secretary of state and member of parliament to move into the Puerta del Sol encampment in Madrid and remain there until the so-called 'Maricarmen decree' on housing is approved. The order, which took effect at dawn, applies to all officials regardless of party and includes a nightly roll call conducted by the Sindicat de Llogateres.
By mid-morning, more than four hundred officials had erected their own tents alongside the original protesters, creating a government quarter of nylon and folding chairs. Ministers were seen queuing for communal coffee and debating the finer points of rent control while sitting on camp stools. The Ministry of Health has converted a nearby pharmacy into a field office for the distribution of sleeping mats and earplugs.
Sumar, ERC, Podemos, Bildu and BNG have announced they will hold their daily press conferences from inside the camp, with a rotating schedule that requires each spokesperson to first complete a two-hour shift handing out water. The Sindicat de Llogateres has warned that any official who leaves the camp before the decree passes will be required to return with a signed rental contract for a stranger.
Police have been instructed to treat the officials as ordinary campers and to fine anyone who tries to use a government vehicle to fetch a pillow. The Council of Ministers is now expected to approve the decree from a circle of camping chairs, with the final vote scheduled for whenever the last minister manages to assemble a tent pole correctly.
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