In Rome, a squatted building was evacuated following a fire: hundreds of people are now out on the streets in the heat

For the past two days, around 400 people have been staging a sit-in outside the occupied Spin Time building in Rome’s Esquilino district. These are the building’s residents, who were evacuated following a fire during the night between Wednesday and Thursday, after which the building was seized by the Digos on two grounds: the occupation and the investigation into the causes of the fire. Outside the building, despite the stifling heat, they are camped on the pavement with tents and makeshift beds. The Civil Protection Agency intervened at dawn to assist the residents, setting up emergency tents and camp beds and distributing water and meals. The most vulnerable families have been transferred to nearby accommodation.

The building was squatted in October 2013 and has been the subject of heated political debate ever since. Rome’s left-wing politicians view Spin Time favourably, to the extent that Mayor Gualtieri chose it as the venue for the primary debate that secured his nomination as the PD’s candidate in 2021. The city council has made clear its interest in purchasing the property and formally designating it for use as social housing, following the model of the occupation on Via del Porto Fluviale, whilst the property company that owns it, Investire SGR, has consistently opposed the sale. The right, on the other hand, supports the eviction: “People’s safety comes first. Precisely for this reason, it is unacceptable that men, women and children should continue to live in a squatted building that lacks the necessary safety conditions,” declared the regional president, Francesco Rocca, before calling on the city council to “take clear decisions” and stating that it is “essential not to allow the occupants to return”.