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In 2024 alone, 16,400 cases of squatting and breaking and entering were reported in Spain, the third highest figure ever. Homeowners have long argued that the law is unfairly balanced in favour of illegal okupas, but it may soon be much easier to get squatters out, or at least make their lives at lot more difficult.

 

This Wednesday November 19, the government will begin processing a bill to reform the Penal Code in Spain so that cutting off utilities like electricity, gas and water in illegally occupied homes will no longer be considered a crime.

 

The move was actually approved in the Senate back in February last year, but it hasn’t moved forward until now.

 

But the real turning point came in March this year, when the Provincial Court in Barcelona ruled that owners can legally cut off gas, electricity and water supply to properties that have been unlawfully squatted by non-paying ‘tenants’.

 

Up until that point, if an owner of an occupied house or flat turned off the home’s basic utilities in an effort to get the squatters out, they could be charged with a crime of coercion. At a time when illegal squatting has become more prevalent throughout Spain, this often left homeowners in a hopeless position, facing years of legal action before their property was returned.

 

The People’s Party (PP), who are pushing through this legislation now to apply to all of Spain, called the Barcelona court’s ruling "a precedent in the fight against this major social problem."

 

"To clarify criteria and ensure its legal application throughout Spain, it must be included as an exception to the crime of coercion regulated in the Penal Code," a PP spokesperson added.

 

Looking back at 2024, squatting across Spain increased by 7.4%. Catalonia is currently the autonomous community with the most reported squatting and breaking and entering crimes, with a total of 7,009 cases, followed by Andalucia (2,207), the Valencian Community (1,767) and Madrid (1,451).

 

However, in order for the new legislation to become law, it will first have to be ratified in Congress, after it’s passed through the Senate once again this November 19.

 

 

Image: STO