In recent years, Spain has faced a noticeable increase in illegal home occupations, causing major concern among owners and potential buyers. Lengthy court proceedings and the difficulty of recovering property have put at the center of the discussion the need for legislative reforms and balanced solutions between the constitutional right to housing and the protection of private property.To this end, Vicente Magro, a judge of the Second Chamber of the Supreme Court of Spain, proposed 10 measures to counter “okupas”. According to him, what is happening in the country with illegal home occupation is something “no one understands either in Europe or in Latin America”.

10 proposed measures

  1. Develop a new Organic Housing Law, because owners are afraid to rent out and investors – to buy.
  2. Adopt Article 544 bis of the Criminal Procedure Law so that the eviction of “okupas” is authorized by the on-duty judge and carried out immediately.
  3. Classify illegal occupation as a criminal offense (fraud) and prosecute under Article 250.1 of the Criminal Code, including those who draw up fake rental contracts.
  4. Staying in a property after the end of a holiday rental should also be considered fraud, reflected in the same Article 250.1.
  5. Vulnerability cannot be grounds to suspend the eviction of “okupas”, who must also pay for electricity, water, property tax, mortgage and other expenses.
  6. Amend Article 9 of the Housing Law, which does not provide legal consequences for non-compliance.
  7. Introduce a registry of rental debtors, the development of which should have started back in 2013.
  8. Qualify the submission of fake rental contracts as procedural fraud.
  9. Define the term “flagrante delicto” so the police can act without fear of losing their jobs and carry out evictions within 24 hours.
  10. Grant homeowners’ associations the right to initiate criminal proceedings against “okupas”.

Judge Magro’s position

As Judge Magro stated, the need for housing cannot be a reason or justification for the illegal occupation of another citizen’s property: “Responsibility for social housing lies with the public administration.”

In addition, Magro argues that the problem of illegal occupation leads owners to commit crimes as well: “The slowness of the courts and delays in returning property force owners to pay ‘okupas’ to leave their homes. This is also a crime. Thus, criminal groups are created, because there are legal incentives for illegal settlement.”

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