The Sol camp prepares for a slow withdrawal after 29 days of protest

Next to the Sol metro exit, four or five young people are scrubbing the walls of a kiosk. They say that this cleaning is part of their usual tasks and is not related to the removal of the camp.

The organisation has already started planning a de-escalation that will last at least several days. The aim is to pack up the tents and remove the structures and materials set up in the square. Afterwards, they want to leave the space clean and in the same condition as before the camp.

Distributing the donations they no longer need is also part of the plan. The food and other materials will go to organisations and social movements that can make use of them. For now, the campers are looking for recipients and working out how to organise the departure.

The decision had not yet been officially announced at the time described. Assemblies and internal debates still needed to finalise the process; some groups wanted to remain in the square. There is also the question of how to help homeless people who have used the camp to sleep and eat.

The protest began after the eviction of Maricarmen, who died two weeks after being expelled from her home. In those weeks, the young people managed to get the Government and its partners to approve two decrees in the Consejo de Ministros; Congress overturned them days later. Pedro Sánchez considered the legislature exhausted seven months earlier than planned and called a general election. The housing crisis thus became central to the electoral climate.

The layout of the camp had already changed over the days: the inner streets were widened and movement improved. The tents occupying the streets of Arenal and Preciados disappeared. In a separate news item about the area, Sol resumed service after safety tests. The planned departure now affects the installations set up in the square and the donations gathered there.