Spain's new 'anti-squatter law' will NOT protect the most vulnerable homeowners, warns property expert

HOMEOWNERS across Spain rejoiced last month when a law change seemed to spell the end for widely-criticised squatter rights.

But an expert in property law has warned that the most at-risk homeowners will not be protected.

The amendment of the Criminal Procedure Act will allow the crimes of ‘usurpation of a home’ and ‘breaking and entering’ to be heard in short hearings within a maximum period of 15 days.

It means squatter evictions will effectively be added to a new fast-track court process, alongside a string of other crimes including physical violence, robbery and traffic offences.

All these crimes will have fast-track trials, as will those for evictions once the amendment is fully approved and appears in the Official State Gazette (BOE) – most likely in January 2025.

However TikTok user ‘sergioexcellencecircle’, who has more than half a million ‘likes’ and more than 54 thousand followers on the social network, has issued a warning on the effectiveness of the new law.

He says in the clip: “A law reform has just been approved for quick trials against squatters, but it has a big problem… and that is that this reform mainly attacks two types of squatting: usurpation and trespassing…

“The breaking and entering is when they enter an inhabited house and (trials for) that was already fast and honestly it was not a problem, at least not such a serious problem.

“Here the big change is in the usurpation, which is when the squatters enter an uninhabited house and the usurpation is generally done with (homes belonging to) large entities, banks, private funds, and the quick trial will be held in just 15 days, and possibly they will not take into account if the squatter is vulnerable.”

However, he warns that there is a forgotten aspect of squatting in the new law, the so-called ‘inquiokupas’.

@sergioexcellencecircle
Por cierto, si tienes pisos inquiokupados, avísame que te los podemos comprar.¿El fin de los okupas? Lo que no te cuentan de la reforma de ley Como ya sabéis, y si no lo sabéis, ahora vais a alucinar: se acaba de aprobar una reforma de ley para juicios rápidos contra los okupas. Al final del video te cuento por qué esta reforma tiene un grave problema. Esta reforma ataca dos tipos de ocupación: • Allanamiento: cuando entran en una casa habitada. Esto ya era rápido y no suponía un problema tan grave. • Usurpación: cuando los okupas entran en una casa deshabitada. El gran cambio está en la usurpación. Este tipo de ocupación, que afecta principalmente a grandes tenedores, bancos y fondos, ahora tendrá juicios rápidos en tan solo 15 días. Es probable que no se tenga en cuenta si el okupa es vulnerable, y esto podría provocar que, en muy poco tiempo, muchos okupas sean desalojados. Pero hay un gran olvidado: Los inquiokupas. A estos cambios no les afectará, y son ellos quienes más daño hacen a los pequeños propietarios. La inquiokupación no tendrá juicios rápidos, y sinceramente, creo que debería ser la prioridad, ya que afecta directamente a los propietarios más vulnerables y hace mucho daño a la sociedad. ¿Qué opinas tú de estos cambios? ¿Arreglarán el problema de la ocupación? ¡Sígueme para más! #Ocupación #Inquiokupas #inversioninmobiliaria #inversion #agenteinmobiliario #agenciainmobiliaria #inversorinmobiliario
? sonido original – Sergio_excellence_circle

Inquiokupas refer to people who agree to rent a home but stop paying the rent and refuse to leave.

It remains one of the biggest problems affecting landlords across the country, including many Brits with holiday homes.

The expert added: “There is a great forgotten, some squatters who will not be affected by these changes and they are the ones who do the most harm to the small owners and it is … the inquiokupas, these squatters will not have quick trials and I sincerely believe that it is the one that we should tackle first, since it directly affects the most vulnerable owners and does a lot of harm to society.”