British homeowners in Spain say their holiday villas are coming under a growing threat of squatters amid the country’s housing crisis. Soaring rents and a shortage of affordable housing have afflicted the country for years, causing an eruption of anti-tourism demonstrations and clampdowns in cities across Spain. Another major side-effect of the 80% spike in rental prices over the last decade is a correlating rise in squatting, British holidaymakers say, made more popular by the difficulties of holding criminals accountable for the offence.
“Since COVID, there’s been a perfect storm of surging rents, stagnant wages and a lack of new housing,” Paul Stuart, 44, of Marbella-based Palm Estates said. “It’s getting worse and worse. I’ve had to confront squatters myself and I have been threatened with stabbing twice. It’s a ticking time bomb. There’s so much anger that I fear we are going to see a lot more cases ending in violence.”
“It’s getting worse and worse,” the Liverpudlian told MailOnline. “They are really clever and know how to manipulate the law. It’s disgusting and horrible, what they do.
“You feel terrible for the homeowners – most of them have saved all their lives to buy a place here and it’s just been ruined.
“I know there are genuine people who fall on hard times and can’t pay the rent for a while, but the majority of cases I see are just stright up criminals.”
Maureen Findell, 76, from London, said she was left with no choice but to sell her two-bedroom flat on the Costa Blanca after squatters “completely ruined” the holiday escape for her and her family.
Illegal occupants reportedly told her neighbours that they had rented the apartment and “broke in via the back doors”. “They had been living there for months, or even longer, before people realised they were squatters,” Ms Findell said.
The 76-year-old said she quickly lost faith in local authorities to tackle the problem. “The police don’t give a monkeys, and the squatters are intimidating people, and often have aggressive dogs,” she warned.
The trend puts Brits, whose homes may be empty for large parts of the year, at particular risk of squatter gangs, Mr Stuart warns. “They stake out properties to make sure they are empty, before breaking in and calling a locksmith to change the locks,” he said.
A new law came into effect in Spain this year, enabling squatters to be removed via express eviction orders within 15 days. The legislation also means that if police intervention fails, courts must hold a hearing within 15 days and a judge must issue a ruling within three days of the hearing.
But removals can be complicated by sophisticated fake contracts created and used by criminals to insist on their right to stay. Holiday home owners in Spain have been urged to install alarms and CCTV cameras to strengthen any legal proceedings in the event of squatting.