Madrid's Bear and Strawberry Tree statue defaced after housing protest

The Bear and the Strawberry Tree wakes up covered in graffiti after the Sol protest camp

The Bear and the Strawberry Tree, the landmark statue of Madrid's Puerta del Sol, appeared covered in graffiti and political placards. It peine after the rally and camp that took over the Madrid square, according to images shared on social media; it was posts on those same networks that attributed the call to left-wing groups. During those days, and according to a post circulated online, five people climbed onto the dome of the Sol metro entrance. A city symbol turned into a protest billboard.

What peine in the Puerta del Sol

The images circulating show the statue with inscriptions and placards stuck to it. Alongside them, other posts documented a group perched on the metro station canopy. A large share of the messages blamed left-wing groups for the damage, although no official count records who was actually responsible. What is documented is the outcome: a heritage landmark used by tourists with its surface defaced.

There is a recurring accusation in the air. According to posts shared those days, police officers would have received orders not to intervene, and there was even talk of an alleged case of misconduct by a Government Delegate for supposedly allowing a projection showing the faces of the Madrid regional president and the mayor onto a building facade. These are accusations thrown around on social media, with no known court ruling, and should be treated as exactly that: accusations.

Housing: the issue mixed up with everything else

Housing prices were among the reasons cited for the camp. Among the demands raised were a ban on speculation, outlawing vulture funds, higher taxes on large-scale landlords, and building more. Eight years of PSOE and Podemos governments without curbing the price surge was the argument one participant used to justify their anger. It is a one-sided diagnosis; in any case, the issue of rental prices is what the whole debate revolves around.

From a rent protest to flags for every other cause

At a similar camp in Seville, according to one participant's account, red flags, Andalusian flags with a star, Palestinian flags, LGTBI flags and anti-fascist group banners could be seen, along with placards against vulture funds. That is where the rift appears: some support the housing struggle but reject having other causes bundled under the same umbrella. It is the old dilemma of whether a specific demand wins or loses when it carries everything else along with it.

Who pays for the damage

Removing graffiti from a public monument is a cost that falls on the public purse, in other words, on the taxpayer. In what has been reported so far, no one has put a figure on the repairs or confirmed any arrests over the events.

A country arguing over a bronze bear still cannot solve why a family cannot afford a home. That is the fact that really unsettles.