Barcelona and the “ocupas” problem – what does it look like from a resident’s perspective?

Why can’t “squatters” just be kicked out?

Let’s say you’re going away for a few weeks. Meanwhile, someone breaks into your apartment, changes the locks and starts living there. You come back, call the police and you are convinced that you will get your house back in a moment. You didn’t rent a place to this person, so it makes sense, right? Well, not entirely.

The police cannot always simply escort people inside out. If some time has passed since the burglary and it is not a red-handed situation, officers often decide that the matter must be resolved in court. In practice, this means that the property owner may be unable to enter his own apartment until the proceedings are completed. And this can last for years.

That is why in Spain there is so much talk about the problem of so-called occas – people who occupy other people’s apartments without the owner’s consent. What is controversial is not that the regulations grant them greater rights than owners, but that in practice the system may give such an impression. . And it is this paradox that an illegal tenant is actually better protected than a person with property rights, which is the source of the greatest emotions surrounding this phenomenon.

Who becomes ocupas and which apartments are most vulnerable?

Ocupas are people who occupy someone else’s property without the owner’s consent. The phenomenon became particularly visible after the financial crisis in 2008, when many empty apartments belonging to banks were occupied, but over time the problem also spread to private owners, especially people with uninhabited holiday apartments or second homes. The difficulty arises when it is impossible to clearly determine whether a recent burglary has occurred, because in such cases the case often goes to court. And this is where the long procedure begins. Changing the locks alone does not give them any rights, but it allows them to effectively delay regaining their apartment.

How do residents try to protect themselves against it?

This is why the instant intervention alarm is so popular in Barcelona. Security companies monitor apartments 24 hours a day and, in the event of an attempted break-in, send a patrol before the matter becomes complicated.

I also have purchased private security. So do most of the landlords I know. At first it seemed like overkill. Today I understand why for many people it is simply standard.

How do owners get their apartments back?

Most often by court. The problem is that proceedings can take months, and in many cases even years. This led to the creation of companies specializing in apartment recovery in Spain. Some operate legally and negotiate with the people who occupy the premises.

What do residents and investors think about this?

Most Barcelona residents consider the current system to be inefficient. The topic of ocupas regularly returns to public debate, and many people demand faster eviction procedures. This arouses even greater surprise among foreigners, who often cannot believe that the owner of the property may not have access to his own apartment for many months. Many friends often tell me about the “myth” that surrounds apartments in Spain. I usually answer that some myths have more truth in them than we expect.

Although most cases concern vacant properties and unattended premises, the problem is real. Every year in Spain there are approximately 15-16 thousand reports of illegal seizure of real estate, and most such cases take place in Catalonia.