Undoubtedly,the crisis from 2007 onwards lead to an increase in those unable to meet their mortgage payments or pay their rent. Often individuals and families who looked to loose their homes, looked just across the street at the glut of similar empty properties close by and turned to squatting as a solution.
The majority of the empty properties occupied by this new breed of squatter belong not to other individuals but to the banks and considering the Spanish constitution fundamentally supports everyone’s right to enjoy their own home, nobody really seemed to mind and squatting to an extent became socially acceptable.
Unfortunately, squatting has also become a business and not all squatters are actually homeless. As the trend caught on it took a new twist. Squatters took to breaking into furnished private properties, particularly vulnerable properties being temporarily vacant holiday homes. The supposedly homeless squatter will occupy a property knowing full well what it is and wait for the owners to turn up. When pressed to leave, the squatter asks for help (cash) to be able to move out and rent somewhere.
However often the reality is, the owner is relived to get their property back without the extra cost and time of a court case and the squatter – having just been paid off – is ready to move on to another empty property. In other situations more hardened squatters are being paid to take over an empty property by the genuinely homeless or those unable or not confident enough to break in for themselves.
These new organised “squatter mafias” consistently develop new ways and tricks to gain earnings from these illegal acts so in general terms squatting has now lost much of the social acceptability it enjoyed in the past.
Although the Spanish criminal law (Código Penal 245.2) tends to protect owners and punish squatters it is not always applicable. In many situations the court sentencing for squatting was just a fine. In fact on November 12th 2014 the Spanish high court ruled this law could only be applied in special circumstances and in all other cases, squatting must be treated as unpaid rent by a tenant.
The Spanish government being well aware of this, passed a new law in June 2018 that attempted to protect ordinary home owners from this aggressive squatting of private property. However like many other new and grand sounding laws the reality is that the new law is still considered by many to be almost useless. Needless to say that it would be the owners and not the community the one entitle to take any legal action.
Theoretically the new fast-track solution sounds fine. The court allocates a relatively short time for the squatter to provide evidence of their right to inhabit the property. Should there be children, elderly or people of special needs involved, the court prepares social services to look for any needed alternative accommodation. The squatters once notified have five days to present documentation to prove their legal occupation of the property and if not the court should order their immediate eviction.
However taking into consideration just how busy the courts are, the actual length of time that court procedure in Spain can really take and various other delaying tactics, it is often neither fast, nor cheap. It is the owner who pays for both a solicitor and a procurator to take the case to court, well aware that more often than not these costs will never be recovered from the squatters.
Consequently many owners are tempted to take the legally dubious route of paying off the squatters to leave and when not, then unfortunately the only remaining legal way to regain their property, is to actually take the squatters to court.
This article has been published in Euroweekly News ( Community Corner), written by José Luis Navarro.