Palma Mayor Jaime Martínez has asked the Balearic Islands government delegation to intervene and evict the housing-rights encampment at Plaça d’Espanya. He cited the police operation that ended a protest at Madrid’s Puerta del Sol overnight, arguing that the same approach should apply in Palma.

Speaking to reporters at the World Travel Market in London, Martínez said the city’s Local Police would also begin proceedings against campers who violate municipal rules on civic conduct and use of public space. Officers will identify alleged offenders, record violations and open sanctioning cases, he said.

Martínez has asked government delegate Pere Joan Pons to act within his authority. The mayor said Palma had sought action for more than a month, and argued that if the Madrid gathering was considered to have exceeded its permitted period and no longer fell under the right to protest, the same criteria should be used in Palma.

The city says the encampment makes cleaning and maintenance more difficult and restricts public use of the square, which it says is crossed by around 50,000 people a day. It has also raised concerns about enclosures and unauthorised connections to the electricity network potentially damaging paving and other urban features. The municipality says it respects the rights to protest and assemble, but argues that these rights do not justify an indefinite occupation of public space.

The council first asked the government delegation to take measures to end the protest on 1 October, saying the period the organisers had reportedly set for the gathering had expired. While the delegation considers the latest request, the city says it will enforce the municipal ordinances through its own powers.

The encampment is part of nationwide housing-rights demonstrations. Its organisers describe it as peaceful civil disobedience in response to the housing emergency and say they intend to continue pressing institutions. They have also proposed expanding the mobilisation into neighbourhoods and building a broader response ahead of a housing general strike called for 11 November.

Sources: elDiario.es.