Government warns May 15 protestors they can't stay in Sol

The government warned the May 15 Movement on Wednesday that its members cannot continue to camp out in Madrid's Puerta del Sol much longer.

Deputy Prime Minister Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba did not say how much time the government would give the demonstrators but he explained that business owners in the area have complained that the protest camp has affected their sales.

"We cannot have a group of citizens trampling on the rights of others just because they want to exercise their constitutional guarantees," Rubalcaba said in a radio interview.

Businesses around Madrid's main square have reported sales drops of up to 70 percent since the camp was set up on May 15.

Rubalcaba clarified that he wasn't planning on sending in the police to dislodge the protestors because it still wasn't clear how much longer they want to remain there. "The police have to act with proportionality. You have to do things correctly and prevent something from happening because the results can be very bad," he said.

Catalan police came under fire on Friday for clubbing May 15 Movement protestors camped out in Plaza Cataluyna after Barcelona city officials sent in crews to clean up the area.

On Tuesday night, the May 15 Movement assembly decided that they would eventually withdraw the tents from Puerta de Sol and replace them with "recyclable huts," where passers-by can obtain information concerning the movement. But they didn't agree on a timeframe for the project. They also discussed the possibility of taking down the camp during the day so as not to affect nearby businesses and setting it back up in the evening.

"A restructuring does not mean we are dissipating," said one May 15 spokesman, Juan Cobo.

When questioned by EL PAÍS, many business owners said they wouldn't mind if the protestors set up an information booth, but agreed that the camp was "illegal." Most also don't want a reduction in the number of tents as some in the movement have proposed.