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The key to squatters evacuation from your home in Spain!

The first 48 hours are the key to squatter removal: we explain how.

The COVID-19 pandemic in Spain has increased the number of cases of squatting because homeowners are unable to inspect their second homes because of the alarm situation. According to data from the Ministry of the Interior itself, illegal employment in Spain has grown by almost 50% since 2016 and by 20% from 2018 to 2019 to 14,394 occupations.  properties

Generally the houses most likely to be "okupas" are second houses, that is, those not the usual residence of the owner but are perhaps used as a holiday home. This also tends to occur because, in these circumstances, the legal consequences for squatters differ.

If a squatter enter a house that is not a habitual residence, they commit a crime of usurping a house (Art. 245 of the penal code) and are punished with a "simple" fine of between 3 and 6 months. The penalty shall be imprisoned for 1 to 2 years in the event of violence or intimidation, as recalled by José Ramón Zurdo, the General Director of the Rental Negotiation Agency. The expert also stresses, however, that squatters are fully conscious of this and tend to avoid all forms of violence.

On the other hand, penalties are higher for squatting in the main residence of someone. In those cases, the crime committed is considered infringing (art. 202 of the penal code) and is punishable by a prison sentence of 6 months to 2 years and the penalty is increased from 1 to 4 years and the fine is increased from 6 to 12 months if violence or intimidation occurs.

So, if you have a Spanish vacation home and are worried about the possibility of squatters, what can you do? Zurdo recommends that an alarm connected to a control center be installed. "It's crucial because the alarm shows that you haven't left the property and shows when it was illegally occupied," he says. In his opinion, it's important to know about the date of illegal occupation, because the State Security Forces can expel a squatted property without a court order in the first 48 hours after it starts.

Experts say that, faced with this fast track of eviction, in the first days of the occupation the squatters want to remain unaware to avoid being reported and the police can evict them without an order from the judge. This is why an alarm to warn the police directly is the most effective measure because in a matter of hours they will go to the squatted house.

At a minimum, an alarm will prevent squatters from taking over the house and so they cannot get their belongings as easily in the house. According to Johnson Controls, the main cause of alarm was fear of theft in the past while, in recent years, customers have been more concerned about squating threats, affecting mainly second homes," says the director of the Johnson Controls Residential Business Unit, Jose Gonzalez Osma, who has been with 40% of the total customers in the residential sector.

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