Hundreds camp on sweltering Rome streets in battle over occupied building

ROME – Since July 29, about 300 people, many of them vulnerable and around 100 children, have been camping on sidewalks near Termini station in Rome, under heat reaching 40 degrees Celsius. They are residents of the Spin Time building, a seven-story office block occupied since 2013, which they called home until the evacuation.

The incident began when a small fire broke out in the evening in an unoccupied room on the lower floor. Residents extinguished it within minutes before firefighters arrived, and damage was minimal. However, police evacuated the entire building and the judiciary ordered it sealed, declaring it unsafe. Residents are now allowed in only one at a time, escorted by police, to retrieve documents and essential belongings.

Life on the sidewalk
Volunteers from the surrounding area bring food, water, mattresses, and clothing every noon. Thousands of people have visited the camp over the past nine days, including politicians, singers, and actors. In the evenings, an open-air cinema is set up for children to watch movies. A two-year-old girl fainted in the arms of a Red Cross nurse on August 6.

Maria Cabrera, who lived in the building for nearly 11 years, said the first night many had no shoes, and at 4 a.m. they were told they could not re-enter. “Seeing the children lying on cardboard thrown from garbage bins was horrible,” she said.

A Kurdish resident said her brother is blind and uses a wheelchair. Previously, neighbors would help when she went to work, but now he sits under the scorching sun. “Our hearts are breaking,” said Ana Bizdoaca, who has lived there since 2013, on her ninth sleepless night.

Purchase offer rejected
On August 3, the prefect of Rome summoned the mayor, police chief, housing commissioner, and Cardinal Baldassare Reina, the Pope's vicar for Rome. The city offered to buy the building from the fund InvestiRE SGR – the manager – with a temporary arrangement allowing residents to return while the sale proceeds. However, at a meeting on Thursday (August 8), Mayor Roberto Gualtieri said live on television that the offer had been rejected.

InvestiRE SGR said in a statement that after 13 years of occupation, the building does not meet safety standards, which legally prevents transferring ownership to the city. Mayor Gualtieri said the city will arrange decent accommodation for residents starting Monday, and the first allocations could begin within 60 days. However, activists want to stay and vow to maintain the sit-in as long as possible to pressure local authorities.

Political pressure
The investment fund has long planned to build a luxury hotel on the site. The ruling Brothers of Italy party has pressured the mayor not to buy the building, arguing that using public funds while thousands await housing would encourage lawbreaking.

“We never thought they would use this tragedy to evict us,” said resident Aurora Jacob, referring to populist forces. “Someone exploited the emergency, the fragility of families and children, to push them out of their homes. The difference between us and you is that we are second-class citizens.”

Vatican watching
Pope Leo XIV has met with community members, and Cardinal Reina said the Pope asks for hourly updates. If the eviction becomes permanent, Spin Time would be the largest occupation in Italy to face such a measure.

Nobel Prize-winning physicist Giorgio Parisi (2021) sent a letter to residents on Friday, writing: “Inequality and marginalization are the worms that corrode democracy, and we should all stand with those who oppose them concretely, not just in words.”

Maria Cabrera said she wants only one thing: “A miracle. I don't think poverty is a crime.” She said authorities should stop playing games with those in need, and the owner should sell the building. “People are just speculating, on the building's price and on us, who are in difficulty.”