Madrid closes Sol Metro as unions challenge Ayuso’s account and commuter trains keep running

No reopening time was announced. Madrid’s regional transport authority said underground trains would pass through without stopping while ventilation shafts were cleaned of waste it attributed to the protest outside.

The decision brought disruption at a major transport interchange into an increasingly bitter confrontation over the housing camp, which has occupied Puerta del Sol for almost three weeks. It also exposed conflicting accounts from the regional government, workers’ representatives and the national authorities responsible for commuter rail services. ALSO READ: Vigils and protests in Madrid after death of housing campaign symbol Maricarmen.

Unions dispute the reasons given for closure

Ayuso announced the shutdown during an interview with Federico Jiménez Losantos on esRadio, saying her team had just informed her that urgent intervention was necessary.

‘I have just been told that we are going to have to close Sol Metro station because urgent cleaning and safety work needs to be carried out, starting with the workers of Metro de Madrid. And occupational risk prevention and the unions have requested it. At least while that work lasts, because there are currently unsanitary conditions inside,’ she said.

However, Metro’s works council subsequently rejected her account, saying it had neither requested the shutdown nor received the information normally supplied to workers’ representatives in such circumstances.

‘They have not provided us with the measurements they say have been taken by the Prevention Service, as is normally done on these occasions. We completely dissociate ourselves from this decision,’ the unions said in a statement.

RENFE, meanwhile, said it had found no sanitation problems in its own facilities and would continue operating Cercanías services at Sol. The Transport Ministry, headed by Óscar Puente, also reported no public order incidents affecting those facilities. Although the Metro and Cercanías stations have separate access points, they share a concourse.

The central government’s delegation in Madrid demanded a more detailed explanation from the regional administration. It asked Ayuso to specify ‘what concrete risks affect its facilities and why they cannot be addressed through cleaning and disinfection operations compatible with maintaining all or part of the service’, particularly while RENFE remained operational.

Housing protest becomes a political battleground

The encampment stands outside the headquarters of Madrid’s regional government, directly confronting Ayuso’s administration with a protest born out of Spain’s housing crisis.

Organised by the Sindicato de Inquilinas tenants’ union, it followed the eviction in Madrid of an 87-year-old woman named Maricarmen Abascal, who died two weeks after losing her home. ALSO READ: Vigils and protests in Madrid after death of housing campaign symbol Maricarmen.

The camp expanded from around 30 tents to more than 1,000 within a week, with thousands more people joining during the day.

Initially directed at the political establishment as a whole, the movement also put pressure on Pedro Sánchez’s government. Two emergency housing decrees were defeated in Congress, helping precipitate the general election called for 29 November. ALSO READ: Pedro Sánchez calls a general election in Spain for 29 November.

Ayuso has become a particular target of demonstrators’ anger following controversy over her regional government’s purchase of a €6.3 million luxury penthouse for use as an office and occasional accommodation for the president. Protesters contrast that expenditure with the difficulties facing people unable to secure affordable housing. ALSO READ: Opposition steps up pressure on Ayuso government over €6.3 million penthouse purchase.

With the election approaching, the dispute over the camp has become another point of conflict between the PP, which controls both the regional government and Madrid City Hall, and Sánchez’s PSOE-led national administration.

Ayuso accused the prime minister of deliberately allowing disruption to continue, describing the situation in Sol as ‘the law of the jungle’. ALSO READ: Sánchez booed at Spain’s National Day parade as tensions spread to Madrid’s Puerta del Sol.

‘There are fights, all the smell that is already beginning to contaminate the Metro exits, the ventilation grilles of the underground itself, ambulances have difficulty getting through, they attack journalists. It is already the law of the jungle,’ she said.

She also claimed that the atmosphere was deterring customers from visiting shops and restaurants in the surrounding streets. Madrid PP figures suspect Sánchez would prefer the encampment to remain through election day, although that is their political assessment rather than an established explanation for the government’s position. ALSO READ: Spain’s housing crisis prompts general strike on 11 November, ahead of election.

Court challenge has not secured an eviction

The regional government and City Hall sought the camp’s removal shortly after it began, arguing that it obstructed movement through the square, damaged Madrid’s image and raised safety concerns. They also cited the alleged presence of paving stones and knives to challenge its peaceful character.

The central government’s delegation declined to order an eviction, treating the gathering as an exercise of the right of assembly. Responsibility for ordering a police operation to clear the square rests with the national authorities.

Ayuso’s administration then went to the Madrid High Court of Justice, alleging administrative inaction. Its attempt to secure interim measures failed because the court found that a legal prerequisite for that claim had not been met: three months had not elapsed since the formal request for action.

That procedural decision left the camp in place; it did not amount to a final ruling on every argument surrounding its removal. Spanish state broadcaster RTVE has reported that lawyers are considering a request for reconsideration, while Ayuso has also raised the possibility of taking the case to the Supreme Court.

There are concerns that an eviction could expand the protest rather than end it, recalling the mobilisation associated with the 15-M movement.

Crowding, business complaints and sporadic violence

Sol’s role as a tourist destination, transport hub and gathering place has intensified the pressures around the camp. Residents, visitors and protesters converge near station entrances, sometimes alongside demonstrations over other causes. Police have previously asked Metro to suspend services at Sol because of potential crowding risks. ALSO READ: Thousands march as Madrid teachers begin indefinite strike: the dispute explained.

The protest has nevertheless generally remained peaceful, with violent incidents sporadic. Participants also sweep and wash the square daily, according to Spanish media.

The regional government has pointed to graffiti on the square’s statues as evidence of damage to public property. Residents have complained about the crowds outside their buildings, while traders say they have suffered losses running into millions of euros. The regional administration is examining possible compensation.

Officials have also alleged links between some protest organisers and a pro-Palestinian NGO designated as a terrorist organisation by Israel. Those allegations concern particular individuals or organisations and do not establish that the housing protest itself is linked to terrorism.

Separately, regional government lawyers have referred possible hate offences against Ayuso to prosecutors. 

One of the most serious confrontations occurred on 12 October, when people arriving from Spain’s National Day military parade went to Sol and shouted insults at the housing protesters. Some gave fascist salutes, sang the Francoist anthem Cara al Sol and threw eggs. Protesters responded with shouts and chants. Five people were arrested and a police officer was injured. ALSO READ: Sánchez booed at Spain’s National Day parade as tensions spread to Madrid’s Puerta del Sol.

Friday’s Metro closure leaves the encampment unresolved, while adding a dispute over transport provision and the evidence behind the regional government’s decision.