Spain's anti-squatting offices flop: 109 inquiries in six months, two provinces with none

The fiasco of Castilla y León's anti-squatting offices: 109 inquiries in six months and two provinces with none

An advice office against squatting where nobody calls. The regional government of Castilla y León and the Urban Property Chambers launched an information and advice service on illegal home occupation across the region's nine provinces on 8 June. Six months later, the tally is dismal: barely 109 inquiries in total. Valladolid accounts for 35% with 38, while Ávila and Salamanca did not record a single one.

The numbers raise the question of whether squatting is really as pressing a problem as public discourse suggests. With 27 million homes in Spain, and according to figures from the company Desokupa itself (more than 1,000 evictions a year), the incidence on the total housing stock is below 0.003%. A microscopic proportion, even if for those who experience it, it is hell.The contrast with the private sector

While the public offices languish, the number of eviction companies has doubled since the pandemic. The best known, Desokupa, has accumulated more than 7,600 evictions since 2016. The owners' explanation is simple: going through the courts or administrative channels means facing a wait of up to two years. The official offices, moreover, do not always make access easy: in Ávila, to receive advice you must first become a member of the Property Chamber and pay a fee. An obstacle that deters anyone already in a desperate situation.

The striking figure: with an incidence of 0.003% of the housing stock, squatting generates disproportionate political noise. The anti-squatting offices, yet another invention to give the appearance of action, sit empty while the private business flourishes. Perhaps the problem is not where some say it is.