If you were interested in buying or already own real estate in Spain, you have definitely heard about the greater risk of squatters appearing in your home than in most other countries, in Spain they are more often called okupas. Who are these people and how to protect your property from their encroachment? In this article, we will try to answer these questions.
Squatting is an attempt on the right of private property, and you can often hear that the Spanish authorities treat squatters quite loyally. But in fact, it is not so difficult to protect your possessions from recoupments. It should also be understood that different groups of them pose a different threat to the owners.
Payouts in Spain can be divided into three main groups: forced, bad and ugly. Although in reality the picture is a little more complicated. Each group has its own distinctive motives, threat levels, and methods of seizing properties.
Forced squatters
Forced squatters are mostly desperate people who have nowhere to live and who are provided with social housing in other European countries, but not in Spain, where the government only talks about the “right to decent housing.”
This category of squatters usually settles in poor urban or suburban areas and does not pose a particular threat to foreign owners of “second homes” who practically do not buy real estate here.
People dealing with ocupas say that economic migrants make up an increasing proportion of this group. And this group is growing as the More and more new migrants are coming to Spain. They mostly come from very poor countries where life is extremely difficult. Once in Spain, they receive medical care, benefits and FREE housing if they manage to settle in an apartment as squatters. Moreover, the owner must pay all utility costs in order to avoid problems with the law.
Criminal squatters
Criminal squatters are criminal gangs that use payback to extort money from owners. Well-organized gangs take advantage of Spain’s lenient policy towards payback and seize real estate in order to obtain a ransom for eviction. This is an extremely profitable and low-risk business, and the more expensive the property, the more profitable it is.
This group poses the greatest threat to second home owners in Spain, as their actions are clearly planned.
Political squatters
Political squatters tend to come from affluent middle-class backgrounds and choose squatting for political reasons. They share leftist, anti-capitalist views and do not believe in private property. As a rule, they have an untidy appearance and turn the neighbors’ lives into hell. They are more interested in large properties in urban areas where they can live as a commune and enjoy urban life, and therefore they do not pose a particular threat to second home owners. In Spain, they often enjoy high-level political support.
How to protect yourself from payback
The existence of the payback problem in Spain, of course, cannot be denied. But still, it is not as big as it is hyped in the media. There are several simple steps to minimize the risk of taking over your property.
Most often, the payouts seize empty real estate or objects that are pledged by the bank (often a bank employee participates in the scheme, giving squatters information about such objects for a fee). Usually, such facilities are located in disadvantaged areas, residential complexes or towns without security.
Another way to capture real estate is for squatters to rent a house, and after a couple of months they stop paying for it.
So, let’s give some tips to avoid problems with payback:
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