Squatters leave in Sitges after the owner pays money for extortion!

The British owner of an estate in Sitges pays extortion money for squatters to demonstrate how efficient Spain's squatter extortion model is. villa

Last week I reported a squatter band in Sitges holding the British owner's property for ransom. The owner has since surrendered to the extortion and paid ransom money for the squatters. They left the property in good form, but took with them many of the owners of the property.

Once the authorities have become apparent that they will no longer be helpful, the owner has hired one of the anti-okupa companies specialized in paying squatters by squatter activists and supporters.

The anti-okupa company negotiated with the Moroccan squatters, who were a gang in this case. Anti-okupa firms are staffed by heavy muscles and lawyers.

The squatters started asking for €5,000 and tried to show that they wouldn't be intimidated to leave. There were heated discussions and the squatters even called the police on one occasion to help them. At the end they paid €2,000 and left the apartment in good shape, although they stole all the designer clothing and other properties.

The anti-okupa company received € 3,500 to advise the owner to pay the ransom and negotiate with the squatters.

The owner installed an alarm system from Spain's largest security company right after the okupa left. Installation costs €600 and operation costs €44/month. This wasn't much for the owner, but alarm companies know that in times like this they can pay more.

Everything in the squatters costs the proprietor €5.500 to displace, not to mention all time, emotions, energy and personal possession costs.

It would have cost much more to go through the legal route, depending on how much damage the occupants were willing to do. At least the owner now has property control.

In Spain, criminal gangs can extortion money from owners because ransom payments are usually much cheaper than legal expulsions which may take years, costing tens of thousands of euros.

The business model of squatter extortion will operate until the government changes the legislation in Spain. That is unlikely in the near future because the Madrid government relies on hard-left parties, which support squatters rather than owners. Hard-left groups squat themselves, so no changes will occur until the hard left is far from power, which could take years if it does.

Learnings

This case shows that Spain's squatter racket is very effective. It's an excellent business for criminal squatter gangs. It pays well, the risks are low, you can live free and you can steal all your belongings. I expect this racket of extortion to grow.

It also shows that for all but owners, the squatter business model is lucrative. The squatters are doing well, anti-okupa companies are doing well, lawyers are doing well, locksmiths are doing well, alarm companies are good, and the police don't have to be involved, which is certainly a good thing.

The big losers are property owners and public goods like confidence in the system. Spain as a whole is also a great loser, but the loss is hard to quantify.

More importantly, prevention is less expensive than cure. Any decent alarm system would have helped the owner to prevent this extort and save a great deal of money. Good door, window and building safety would also have contributed and cost less.

I work on a guide to squatters in Spain where I look at prevention and how squatters can be treated as soon as they enter. I would love to hear from anyone in Spain who has some problems with squatters. Please contact me via my contact form below. And sign up for my newsletter if you want to be informed of the squatter threat in Spain.