Almost two months after the eviction of Maricarmen, the 87-year-old woman whose subsequent death sparked a movement, Spain’s housing encampments demanding change remain steadfast. Sofía Guerrero Orte, Alberto Pérez Madrona and Pablo Rodríguez Rodríguez, three university students involved in Seville’s encampment since the beginning, explain how the movement has grown and triggered an election, becoming the driving force behind Spain’s first general strike in 14 years.

“These young people today… they don’t protest like they used to…” They call us the “generación de cristal” or the “Glass Generation”. They say we are fragile, but here we are protesting and resilient – because when glass breaks it cuts.

To many on the outside it may have looked like the Spanish housing protests happened overnight – an outpouring of grief and rage following Maricarmen’s eviction in September.…