Whose Rights? Legal Owners Rights -v- Squatters Rights In Spain

• Law Firm: Giambrone & Partners
• Subject Matter: Real Estate and Construction, Real Estate, Landlord & Tenant - Leases
• Author: Daniel Sanz Martínez
• Published date: 29 May 2023

A large number of British citizens that own holiday homes in Spain are learning that their properties are being occupied by squatters who are assisted by criminal gangs and change the locks, break in and live in the property and often sell the owners' possessions, as reported in the Daily Mail. There is rising level of homelessness in Spain and the current law in Spain related to squatting leaves British second home owners vulnerable, Giambrone & Partners' real estate lawyers explain that the police can only evict squatters if discovered by the owner within a small window of time, 48 hours, after which the procedure for removing them is a long and arduous process before the courts.

The legal position of both the squatters and the home owners differs from that in the United Kingdom, as the provisions of law in Spain related to squatters, If the squatters in question claim to be a homeless family with no alternative accommodation under Article 47 of the Spanish constitution - "all Spaniards have the right to enjoy decent and adequate housing." After the initial 48 hour period squatters that fulfil the criterion of having no alternative housing, gain squatters rights and cannot be evicted without a court order.

Daniel Sanz, an associate in the Barcelona office, pointed out "despite the fact that current jurisprudence affirms that the police atters, when there is a flagrant offence, such as, when the squatters are discovered "in fraganti" entering in a home, the police can only act within the 48 hour period. However, the likelihood of owners who do not live in Spain being present when the squatters actually move into the property is slender." Daniel further commented "in certain circumstances the owners may lose possession of their property, under adverse possession, as the longer the squatters reside in a property claiming to have no adequate alternative housing the harder it is to evict them. The legal steps within the first year that you can take if squatters invade your holiday home as the owner allow you to bring an "interdicto posesorio", which is regulated in articles...