Taylor Swift wrapped her Madrid shows on Thursday, May 30, as she continues the European leg of her record-breaking Eras Tour, but newly revealed circumstances surrounding an upcoming stop’s homeless population in relation to the singer’s arrival are raising eyebrows.
According to TMZ, homeless people have been shut out of Edinburgh, Scotland, ahead of the “Lavender Haze” singer’s tour stops, with nonprofit organizations calling out the way it has been handled.
As the “Cruel Summer” songstress prepares to arrive in Edinburgh for shows over the weekend of June 7-9, members of the homeless community in the area surrounding the city’s Murrayfield Stadium—who would’ve previously been given tourist accommodations as temporary housing—are now being sent out of the city to make way for the influx of people expected to be visiting to see Swift.
“In Edinburgh that emergency now places people experiencing homelessness in direct competition with tourists; a blatant injustice,” Shelter Scotland Director Alison Watson told BBC.
She also explained that the country’s capital “should be able to host such a major event without creating a huge impact on the city’s homeless population,” while making it clear that their gripes are with the city, in particular, and not Swift. Specifically, Watson blames it on “decades of underinvestment in social housing.”
But while Scottish officials did move the homeless camps elsewhere for the time being, they’re clarifying that the event has nothing to do with their motive.
While explaining the reasoning, it was revealed that rooms normally utilized for unhoused individuals were already booked, leaving no availability or access to accommodations that would usually be open.
“It is a symptom of the housing emergency we face in Edinburgh that at times we must use tourist accommodation to house homeless households,” Jane Meagher, the housing convenor representative of the Edinburgh City Council, told the British broadcasting entity in a Wednesday, May 29, statement, noting it was “absolutely not” to accommodate Swift and her tour.
Meagher added: “We know it won’t be available year-round, particularly over the busy summer months, so we use it reluctantly as a last resort. We’re aware of the situation and are working with the affected households to find appropriate, alternative accommodation.”
As for The Tortured Poets Department artist, she is set to take the Eras Tour to Lyon, France, this weekend (June 2-3) before hitting Edinburgh, and heading to Liverpool for shows June 13-15.
