Help recover my late father's house
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Hi, my name is Louise and I'm trying to raise money to recover my late father's house in Spain from squatters.
I need to raise £6000 to cover the legal fees of the eviction plus new security doors and shutters and a new monitored alarm. I need to remove them before February 2025 or they will have more rights to the property than I will.
My father retired to Spain 22 years ago for his health and lived a modest life. Sadly he passed away suddenly and unexpectedly in his house in August 2022 and I went to bring his ashes home to the family plot in Dublin.
Since then I've had a two year nightmare with what I believe to be corrupt Spanish officials.
My late father's house was broken into in February 2023 and despite being immediately reported to the police they did nothing to remove the illegals. The police have the power to remove them within the first 48 hours but despite my arrival the day after the reported break in they did nothing. The squatters told the police they had been there for several weeks so they left them.
I was advised to hire an eviction company to remove them which I did at a cost of €3000 but they did nothing and I wasted my money. Sadly I had to return to England and leave them in my fathers house. It's devastating as to me they are desecrating his memory.
After a very slow and lengthy probate process I finally inherited the house in July this year so went to Spain again to try to recover the house. I hired another eviction company who also failed to remove the squatters. They told me my case was complicated and I need to discuss it with their lawyer. I tried this but he stopped taking my calls so I've lost more money.
On 20th September 2024 I received a message from a neighbour to say there were lots of police at the house. As I am in England I couldn't get there so contacted my inheritance lawyer who made some calls and found out it was a police raid.
I have since discovered that the house was being occupied by drug dealers until the Guardia Civil raided it on 20th September, sealed it and it has been empty since this date. The local police advised me to come and secure and alarm it as soon as possible so I went back to Spain on the 14th of October to do this. I was at the house on Monday and Tuesday when I fitted a new lock to the outside gates and through the windows it was clear to see the property was empty. On Wednesday I returned to fit new locks and install an alarm with a locksmith, an alarm installer from securtias direct and my estate agent and the criminals broke in 5 hours after we left. The alarm was triggered and the police attended along with myself and my estate agent. The police refused to remove them because they claimed they have lived there for 2 years which is a lie. My agent verified this but they still did nothing. I tried to explain that they could verify the raid and the house was empty but they kept saying it was a separate issue. If they had bothered to go into the house they could clearly see it was unoccupied. I am desperate to have them removed as the house is for sale and now my agent cannot go there. I have photos and video showing that the property was empty, no possessions no food etc and one image of the offender captured by the alarm before it was destroyed.
I believe at the very least that Guardia Civil were negligent and in dereliction of duty by not removing them from the house under Article 245 of the Spanish penal code. Personally I believe it is the case that they are being paid off to turn a blind eye and let the squatters stay. When I was at the house at the time of the break in and said how corrupt it was that they were doing nothing about it they threatened to arrest me so it seems I must have touched a nerve.
I have been failed badly twice now so is that just a coincidence? There is something seriously wrong with this and the police and Spanish government need to be held to account for not doing their job and failing innocent people.
The squatters have now targeted my estate agent and threatened him so I'm extremely worried about his safety.
British people are being threatened, assaulted, terrorised and murdered and the Spanish authorities do nothing about it. The thugs are running the show and they are left to get away with it and I have no idea why.
I have been in talks with many many others who are also in my situation and we have decided we are going to bring this to the European Court of Human Rights with the backing of our government MPs. This scandal needs to be addressed at an international level because too many people are being terrorised and even murdered yet the law is on the side of the criminals.
Thank you for reading my story and please share. People need to know what the reality is of owning property in Spain for their own safety.
Below are links to other cases.
https://www.theolivepress.es/spain-news/2024/06/28/tensions-boil-in-spain-after-squatters-beat-a-local-man-to-death-with-baseball-bats-just-weeks-after-taking-over-a-luxury-villa-in-the-british-expat-hotspot/
Organizer
Louise Bawn
Organizer
England