Locals And Expats Fight Illegal Squatters In Basque Town

Hundreds of furious local residents and expats living in the Basque town of Portugalete united to force an illegal squatter family out of a 94-year old’s home.

Nonagenarian Victoria de Castro had returned from a visit to her sick 97-year old sister only to find her home had been illegally occupied by a family of squatters whilst she was away. The squatters had changed the locks and were flashing their backsides as well as waving a knife at neighbours attempting to get them to leave the house. Victoria contacted local police, but was told they could do nothing until 20th November, a whole month after her complaint had been filed.

When Victoria told her friend Carmen the family had even refused to let her collect a change of clothing, Carmen’s furious response was that she’d like to smash down the door and kick out the squatters. By two days later, several hundreds of angry supporters of the old lady were demonstrating outside the property, facing up to police who were stopping them smashing down the door. Spanish law gives occupancy rights to squatters if they manage to stay in a house for over 24 hours.

Victoria arrived early the same evening along with her elder sister and pleaded with the squatters to let her back into the home she’d occupied since she was six years old. Confrontations between police, the squatter family and the angry crowd continued for six hours, after which the family agreed to leave under police protection. Victoria’s nephew thanked the crowd of local and expat neighbours, adding removing the illegals wouldn’t have been possible without their actions. Many local residents believe the squatters were professionals who enter homes along with their children and negotiate financial settlements before leaving.