Squatters in the Canary Islands: What Owners Abroad Can Do

What does okupa mean, and is it the same as a squatter?

In Spain, people who move into someone else's property without permission are called okupas. It is everyday language, not a legal term: the law speaks of entering a dwelling, occupying a property and recovering possession. In English the word is squatter, but the Spanish procedure is different, so set aside what you know from home.

Squatter or tenant who has stopped paying?

A squatter moved in without your consent and has no contract with you. A tenant who stops paying is still a tenant: the route is an eviction claim for non-payment (art. 250.1.1.º of the Civil Procedure Act, LEC), after a compulsory attempt to negotiate (art. 5 of Organic Law 1/2025). The firm's guide for landlords whose tenant is not paying covers that route.

Is your holiday home a dwelling under Spanish law?

Two offences in the Criminal Code (CP) cover squatting:

• Unlawful entry into a dwelling (allanamiento de morada): entering or staying in someone else's dwelling (morada) against the will of the person whose home it is, punished with six months to two years in prison (art. 202.1 CP).
• Unlawful occupation (usurpación): occupying a property that is not a dwelling without authorisation, or staying in it against the owner's will, punished with a fine (art. 245.2 CP), or with prison if violence or intimidation is used (art. 245.1 CP).

A main home is a dwelling. A second home or holiday home that you furnish and use, even if only for part of the year, can count as one too; an empty flat that nobody uses as a home falls under unlawful occupation. The court decides on the facts, so proof that you use the home matters.

What should you do in the first hours?

1. Call the police. Ring 112, or ask someone on the island to do it, and report the occupation to the Policía Nacional or the Guardia Civil. There is no 48-hour or 72-hour rule in Spanish law. What matters is whether the offence is flagrant (delito flagrante), that is, being committed or just committed, with the offender caught in the act or pursued straight afterwards (art. 795.1.1.ª of the Criminal Procedure Act, LECrim): only then may a home be entered without consent or a court order (art. 18.2 of the Constitution). Otherwise, the matter goes to court.
2. File a formal police report (denuncia) and keep a copy.
3. Gather evidence: the title deed (escritura), a recent Land Registry extract (nota simple), receipts in your name for property tax (IBI), community fees and utilities, dated photos, witnesses such as neighbours, the caretaker (conserje) or the administrator of the community of owners, and a note of your last visit and of when you found out.

How do you get the property back?

The criminal case deals with the offence; the civil claim focuses on getting the home back. The firm will advise whether to use one or both.

Criminal route. Since 3 April 2025, both offences can go through the fast-track trial procedure (juicio rápido) when the case starts with a police report and the police have arrested or summoned a suspect (art. 795.1 LECrim).

Civil route. If you own the home as an individual, or hold another lawful right to possess it, you can ask the first-instance court (Tribunal de Instancia) for its immediate return (art. 250.1.4.º LEC):

• The claim can be brought against ‘the unknown occupants’, so you do not need their names, and it must be filed with your title to possess, such as the deed (art. 437.3 bis LEC).
• If you ask for immediate possession, the occupants are required to produce, within five days of being served, a title that justifies their occupation. If they cannot, and your title is sufficient, the court orders them out, and that order cannot be appealed. The police can accompany the official serving the claim to identify the occupants (art. 441.1 bis LEC).
• No prior attempt to negotiate is needed (art. 5.2.e of Organic Law 1/2025).
• The claim is not admitted once a year has passed since you were dispossessed (art. 439.1 LEC), which matters for homes you rarely visit. After that, other civil claims remain, such as the claim based on ownership (art. 348 of the Civil Code, CC), but they do need that prior attempt to negotiate (art. 5 of Organic Law 1/2025). Staying in the property against your will remains an offence (arts. 202.1 and 245.2 CP).

How long it takes depends on the court and on the occupants' circumstances, so the firm does not promise a date.

What must you not do?

Do not change the locks while the occupation lasts, cut off the water or electricity, or force your way in. Doing so can amount to coercion (coacciones, art. 172.1 CP) or to taking the law into your own hands (realización arbitraria del propio derecho, art. 455 CP), and gives the occupants grounds to report you to the police. Paying someone else to do it does not make it lawful.

Can you deal with it from the UK or Ireland?

Being abroad changes the logistics, not your rights. Ask someone you trust on the island to check from outside, without going in or confronting anyone, and to call 112 if needed. Send the firm copies of your documents and photos. The first appointment, in Las Palmas or by video call, is where the firm explains what it needs from you to act.

In the civil claim you need a court representative (procurador) and a lawyer (arts. 23 and 31 LEC). The exception for claims decided by amount, up to 2,000 euros, does not apply: possession claims follow the simplified procedure (juicio verbal) whatever their value (art. 250.1 LEC).

How can you protect a holiday home from squatters?

• Arrange regular visits, at different times, by someone you trust.
• Tell the community's administrator or president when the home will be empty, and leave a phone number.
• Fit a monitored alarm and secure locks, and avoid signs of absence such as post piling up.
• Check that your home insurance includes legal expenses cover (defensa jurídica) that applies to a second home left empty for long periods.

How can the firm help?

ALY Abogados is the Las Palmas de Gran Canaria firm of lawyer Lázaro Héctor Amable Méndez (ICALPA no. 5,231), which also has registered property administrators (administradores de fincas). For owners abroad, the firm acts in the criminal case, brings the civil claim to recover the home and claims for any damage.

Recovering a home from squatters is a separate matter from rental management, which covers the arrears claim and the eviction if a tenant stops paying. If you would rather not leave the property empty, the firm's rental management service in the Canary Islands lets and manages long-term rentals for owners abroad.

Request an appointment: tell the firm what has happened and it will propose a day and time.

Sources

Consolidated texts in the Spanish Official Gazette (BOE): Criminal Code, Civil Procedure Act, Criminal Procedure Act, Constitution, Organic Law 1/2025, Civil Code and Horizontal Property Act.