Defense Minister Margarita Robles, considers that in Spain the current legislation is sufficient to face the growing problem of the illegal occupation of houses and also to protect the rights of the owners. “I believe that we have legislation that allows us to respond to the problems of ‘squatting’, without prejudice to other measures being taken,” Robles said in statements to Europa Press.
In his opinion and from a judicial point of view, he considers that current regulations “protect the right of the owner against squatters”. This is a contradictory comment with that of the opposition. Both the PP, Citizens or Vox have already announced on several occasions that the law falls short. In fact, there are several bills presented in Congress to toughen the legislation and increase the sentences of squatters, as well as allow immediate action by the State Security Forces and Bodies.
For example, the PP and Ciudadanos propose a new law to execute the express eviction, that is, to recover the squatted property in less than 48 hours and not in 30 days, as contemplated by current law. They also intend to include that the crime of usurpation carries jail terms of one to three years for offenders.
Vox defends fast and forceful performances, “kicking them in the ass the same day”, in the words of the leader of the party, Santiago Abascal. Their proposals include raising the sentence to the ‘squatters’ to four years in prison and allowing the State Security Forces and Bodies to evict them immediately.
But from the socialist party itself, there are voices calling for changes to speed up unemployment. For example, the president of Castilla-La Mancha, Emiliano García-Page, in an interview for Europa Press asked to extend the times of police action without judicial intervention and to prevent squatters from registering.
–
