Why would anyone invest in development in a country with such laws?
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Squatting in Spain: Understanding Spain's "okupas" problem
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Re: Squatting in Spain: Understanding Spain's "okupas" problem
#22Why would anyone invest in development in a country with such laws?
Because houses there are very cheap, you can have one with an ocean/sea view without paying through the nose while still living in Europe.
Re: Squatting in Spain: Understanding Spain's "okupas" problem
#23[flagged]
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Re: Squatting in Spain: Understanding Spain's "okupas" problem
#24Why would anyone invest in development in a country with such laws?
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Re: Squatting in Spain: Understanding Spain's "okupas" problem
#25One thing I don't get -- if the law doesn't help why don't the owners of these properties release fart spray everywhere and turn the heat up to max until it is unlivable?
I am not familiar with the specifics in Spain, but in a lot of jurisdictions that would be illegal. Until they are legally evicted they have the exact same rights as regular tenants, and harassing them would be a crime.
The reasoning behind this is that some shady landlords might try to claim that genuine tenants are squatters in order to get rid of them. There are plenty of desperate people who'd accept a verbal contract and payment in cash, after all. Not that hard of a choice when the alternative is being homeless. Oh, but you paid your rent a day late? Sorry, you're now a "squatter", so we're cooking you alive until you leave.
Making it too easy to get rid of squatters would expose the most vulnerable people in society to even more abuse, and making it trickier for absentee landlords to get rid of real squatters is considered a fair price to prevent this.
Re: Squatting in Spain: Understanding Spain's "okupas" problem
#26Earlier quoted context omitted.
> why don't the owners of these properties release fart spray everywhere and turn the heat up to max until it is unlivable? If the okupas have been there for longer than 48 hours without you trying to get rid of them, doing something like that could be considered harassment and/or endangering the occupants' health, so you'd probably face criminal charges for it. You're not allowed to alter the living conditions to fo…
It's not within 48 hours of detecting them. It's within 48 hours of occupation. And they could always fabricate how long they have been there unless the area is under constant surveillance. Fabricating leases is very common.
True, thanks for correcting that, somehow got it wrong but edited now.
Re: Squatting in Spain: Understanding Spain's "okupas" problem
#27[flagged]
The article is as bland and vanilla as HN comments complaining about articles being written by ChatGPT without providing any sort of evidence :)
What kind of evidence do you need? It could be summarized in 3 sentences - it's wordy and repetitive. A human could also write such a thing if paid by line but in 2024 I'd rather assume it's a human + LLM.
Re: Squatting in Spain: Understanding Spain's "okupas" problem
#28[flagged]
The article is as bland and vanilla as HN comments complaining about articles being written by ChatGPT without providing any sort of evidence :)
after dealing with LLMs for a while, you just know.
>It is essential for property owners in Spain to be proactive in protecting their assets against potential squatting. This includes ensuring that properties are properly secured, regularly monitored, and that any signs of illegal occupation are promptly addressed with legal action. For squatters, it is important to be aware of the legal risks associated with occupying a property without consent, as well as the potential social and ethical considerations of such actions.
just this paragraph alone is as blatant as misshapen fingers and distorted text in AI-generated images.
Re: Squatting in Spain: Understanding Spain's "okupas" problem
#29Why would anyone invest in development in a country with such laws?
Because we have doors and windows closed, so in reality this isn't a huge issue. But historically, we've had huge issues with low employment, poverty and empty houses being all around you, while you cannot afford rent. Lots of empty houses + no employment + no money for rent = lets take this house and live in since no one lives there and we don't have a house currently. Basically, if you buy property, make sure to cl…
> Basically, if you buy property, make sure to close it and install a security system. If okupas appear, do the "legal fasttrack" and get them out within 48 hours and it won't be an issue.
And also, if you’re gonna buy property please do so to actually live there yourself or to house a business that you own and actually operate.
Don’t buy houses to rent them out.
Don’t buy houses because you think that letting it sit unused for a few years will let you sell it for more in the future.
Don’t buy houses to “renovate” (read: do unnecessary “improvements” that make the value appear higher) just to turn around and sell it.
In general I wish housing was not seen as an “investment”.
There’s plenty of people still that cannot afford to buy a house. Because other people are using housing as a way to gain more money for themselves.
Re: Squatting in Spain: Understanding Spain's "okupas" problem
#30Oh wow I thought only France has squatting problem. here the squatters can legally occupy your place for 48 hours, and if that's your only place and you went away on vacation tough luck buddy, they can shit on the floor and tear the walls down Good luck getting your money/property back
I'd see as both Spain and France has a housing crisis, the squatting is a symptom of that problem.
Guess the difference is that in Spain if you detect them within 48 hours of them entering the property, you can "easily" and legally remove them with the help of the courts and police.
But once you're beyond those 48 hours, things get a lot harder.