Rome's Spin Time Residents Sleep Outside After Fire, Heatwave Grips Capital

Around 400 residents of Rome's Spin Time centre are sleeping outside after a fire forced their evacuation, with volunteers stepping in to help during a heatwave that has put all 27 major Italian cities on red alert. Euronews reported Thursday that the former office block, which has served as a squatted social centre providing homes, food banks and after-school clubs, is now uninhabitable following the blaze.

The evacuation comes at a particularly difficult moment for the capital, which is in the grip of the fourth heatwave of the summer. Temperatures in Rome have been approaching 40C, and the residents — many of whom are migrants, families and low-income workers — have been forced to camp in public spaces while authorities determine the building's fate.

The situation has drawn attention to the broader housing crisis in Rome, where the Spin Time centre had become a symbol of the city's struggle to provide affordable accommodation. The Guardian reported earlier this week that hundreds had already been camping in the heat as the Meloni government cracked down on squats, and the fire has now added an urgent new dimension to that standoff.