PP Gives Generalitat 48 Hours to Clear Plaça de Catalunya Camp
Barcelona PP leader Daniel Sirera threatens legal action unless the Catalan interior department removes the housing protest camp from Plaça de Catalunya.
The leader of the Partido Popular (PP, the centre-right party) in Barcelona City Council, Daniel Sirera, said on Friday he will take legal action if the Catalan government does not clear the housing protest camp from Plaça de Catalunya. His party has given the regional interior department 48 hours to remove the tents.
The demand was sent by burofax (a certified letter with legal proof of delivery) to Núria Parlon, head of the Conselleria d’Interior (the Generalitat’s interior department, which oversees the Mossos d’Esquadra, Catalonia’s police). The PP announced the move in a statement, according to Metrópoli Abierta.
A camp that has stood for more than a month
The protest over housing has occupied the central square for more than a month, with tents and makeshift structures set up in one of the city’s best-known public spaces. Plaça de Catalunya sits between La Rambla and Passeig de Gràcia and is a main transfer point for metro, Rodalies and bus lines.
Sirera called the situation “absolutely unacceptable” and blamed both mayor Jaume Collboni and Catalan president Salvador Illa. In his words, the two have failed to make sure the law is respected in the square. He had earlier criticised the city for leaving Plaça de Catalunya without its Christmas lights, saying Collboni lets a minority take over a space that belongs to everyone.
The legal argument: freedom of movement
The PP bases its demand on Article 19 of the Spanish Constitution, which protects the right to move freely within the country. Sirera argues that the tents and structures make it harder to walk through the square and limit how people normally use it.
The party has not said in public which court it would go to or what kind of complaint it would file if the deadline passes. The interior department’s response was not disclosed.
What it means for residents and visitors
For now nothing changes on the ground. The camp remains in place, and any removal would depend on a decision by the Generalitat, whose interior department controls the regional police. The PP’s letter adds political pressure on the Catalan government and on Collboni’s city hall over how to handle a protest that has kept one of Barcelona’s busiest squares partly covered in tents for weeks.
People crossing the square on foot, or changing between transport lines there, are the ones Sirera says are affected. The protesters’ own demands on housing are not part of the PP’s complaint.
What happens next
Once the 48-hour deadline set by the PP has passed, if the camp is still standing, Sirera says his party will go to court.
Source: Metrópoli Abierta
