The Spanish government has got blood on its hands following the savage murder of two German expats by a pair of serial squatters.
For years, leaders in Spain have failed to tackle the scourge of illegal occupiers, which has accelerated thanks to lacklustre laws that are easily manipulated and ignored.
In this latest case, a pair of Polish men allegedly entered a villa in Elche, Alicante, for a THIRD time – despite the German owner having changed the locks and alarms.
According to sources cited by El Pais, they had already been arrested twice for squatting the home in the expat haven of La Marina, and were released on both occasions.
The home was supposed to be rented out to a woman and her family over the Christmas period, but she arrived to find it occupied.
When the true owner asked his three friends to confront the squatters, they pounced on the trio, killing two with their bare hands and leaving a third seriously injured and in hospital.
The deceased pair were found dumped on the road before a 20-hour stand off with the Guardia Civil ensued, ultimately leading the pair’s arrest on Tuesday.
The brutal killings, however, are not an isolated aberration. They are the most extreme consequence of a system that has spent years tolerating illegal occupation, paralysing property owners and normalising risk until violence becomes inevitable.
This is no longer a ‘housing debate’ but a public safety failure.
Spain’s squatting problem has long been framed as a social issue, but while compassion is important, there is a huge difference between a single mother tenant who falls behind on her rent, and scumbag criminal gangs who hop from house to house and squat until they are paid several thousands of euros to move on.
And when this style of illegal occupation is met with slow courts, ambiguous policing rules and years-long procedures, it sends a clear signal: take the property first, deal with consequences later.
Most squats do not end in homicide, but every unchecked occupation raises the temperature and every delay increases the chance of confrontation and ultimately violence.
For many foreign homeowners, especially Germans, Brits, Dutch and Scandinavians, the latest story hits painfully close to home.
Properties are often empty for weeks or months as many owners live abroad, and once a home is taken, recovering it can take years, even when the occupation is clearly illegal.
The result is often vigilantism by necessity, with many owners ‘calling in the heavies’ to turf out squatters.
Some owners return in desperation to attempt to do the job the system should already be doing – and that is exactly how tragedies like this are born.
The fact is that squatting cases are growing year-on-year and while many may shrug it off as a marginal issue, it is a powerful one that has far-reaching consequences both politically and economically.
I have several estate agent friends who have lost sales due to fears of squatting and being dragged into a years-long legal battles – and thousands of landlords simply won’t rent out their much-needed homes for fear of falling prey to ‘okupas’.
Politically, it is the far-right that are taking advantage by promising to be the toughest on the issue, which the Socialists might want to wake up to (especially following their humiliating defeat in Extremedura last week).
It’s high time that illegal occupation is treated as an immediate offence, not a prolonged negotiation. If serious action is not taken, I fear this won’t be the last such tragedy we witness.
