Squatters

Yes very common. If anyone sees them gain entry they need to report to the police within 24 hours otherwise it is a nightmare to get them removed.

I think in this day and age this can be a problem in any region or country and is no different in th Murcia region

Since Covid it has been a problem all over Spain (and other European countries). Laws were changed to make it more difficult to remove people from houses (living there illegally doesn't make a difference so it appears) because isolation and preventing the spread of the virus was more important. Squatters know that and take advantage of it. Removing them from your property is a long and difficult legal journey (at least when you follow the rules).

You do see this reported on this forum and in other media - more than I had seen in the UK.

As per other comments, unless you can get the Police there within the first 24 hours, they are loathe to get involved (which is similar to the UK, as squatting is a civil law issue and it's hard to prove who may have done damage to locks, etc. to gain entry). You then need to take court action which is costly and can take months.

There are also reports that criminal gangs put 'squatters' into a property and then offer to remove them for €3,000 - €5,000 - which is effectively blackmail.

There are companies who offer services to remove squatters, which may comprise legal action and/or several large blokes paying a visit!

However, many people have alarms & security systems, so they know if something has happened straight away and the security company can call the Police straight away.

Not just Murcia, all holiday areas are prone to squatters and thieves. 

In Murcia ..no its not a common problem at all ..

It can happen...its normally if it does palpably unoccupied 

properties in the sense they haven't been sold/ remain

uncompleted and poorly secured. 

It's not an issue if you take sensible steps.

Hi Rich, that maybe true in Spain, but in the UK it has been a criminal offence since 2012 for people to squat in domestic properties. I only know this as we had huge issues when we were undertaking refurb work in the west end in the 1990s. If you so much as left the front entrance door open they would sprint in and claim squatters rights, and we would have to leave site. It’s crazy that Spain haven’t adopted this practice and made it illegal for people to squat, I am sure that if they did even more people would be buying holiday homes knowing that if they did get occupied by squatters they could be easily removed.

True but the difference in Spain is that you have little protection from the law. It’s a serious and very expensive problem for homeowners in Spain more than most other countries because of this lack of protection  and is something that should be addressed by Europe since the Spanish Govt. are actually aiding and abetting squatters. It’s a disgrace.

I lived for 14 years in France and squatters took months to evict, in France legitimate tenants abusing their lease and vandalising the property too k months if not years to evict.