Collboni Floats Clearing Plaça Catalunya Camp Before Christmas
Mayor Jaume Collboni says he wants Plaça Catalunya back to normal for Christmas, hinting the housing camp could be cleared. 52 people were detained.
Barcelona’s mayor, Jaume Collboni, has suggested that the pro-housing protest camp in Plaça Catalunya could be cleared before Christmas. Speaking to the radio station RAC1 on Thursday, he said the city’s goal is to hold the holidays “amb normalitat”, meaning normally, in a square he described as belonging to everyone, according to the Catalan broadcaster betevé.
The interview came the day after the general strike over housing and the disturbances that followed a demonstration in the city centre. Collboni put the number of people detained at 52.
What the mayor said about the camp
Collboni did not announce a date or an order. He signalled that the city intends to take the square back, and said the Christmas period is the target. Days earlier, Raquel Gil, the deputy mayor for economic promotion, had said the city council was preparing a plan B so that Plaça Catalunya would not stay dark over the holidays. Albert Batlle, the deputy mayor for security, had warned that the Guàrdia Urbana (Barcelona’s municipal police) was ready if the campers had to be removed.
Damage after the strike march
The mayor said about a hundred containers were burned and around ten shops were vandalised during the disturbances. Cleaning crews worked through the night, he said, and by early morning 80% of the affected area had been restored. The city council will join the court cases as a private prosecution, known in Spain as an acusació particular, over the damage to public property, Collboni said.
A different kind of unrest
Collboni separated this episode from the unrest of a few weeks ago that was driven by Blocus. In his account, the people behind the damage after the strike were from outside the city. He linked them to anti-system movements and anarchism and said they travel to Barcelona to cause trouble.
He drew a contrast with the earlier group: young people, encouraged through social media, who spread chaos in the centre a few days before in order to rob and loot shops. According to the mayor, that movement has been broken up now that its main leaders have been arrested.
Why it matters
The camp in Plaça Catalunya is the visible centre of the housing protest, and the mayor’s comments tie its future to the Christmas season. Residents who cross the square daily, and shops and visitors in the surrounding streets, are the people most likely to notice any change.
The statements also show how the city government is framing the recent violence. By separating the looting by young people from the damage caused by outside activists, Collboni presents two distinct problems with different people behind them, and says one of them has already been dealt with through arrests.
What to watch next
No eviction date has been given. The mayor’s words were an indication of intent, and the city council has not said how or when a removal would take place. The council’s plan to act as a private prosecutor over the damage to public property is another step to follow.
Source: betevé
