A British woman has warned against buying property in Spain after being forced to sell her squatted villa for a fraction of its value.
Louise Bawn, 53, from Bristol, has been battling to win back her €160,000 (£138,000) home in Cartama, Malaga, since it was illegally occupied in early 2023.
But after repeated inaction by the local police and courts, she has given up and decided to sell.
She told MailOnline she will be lucky to get €30,000 (£26,000) as she must notify buyers that it comes ‘okupado’ – filled with squatters.
She said: ‘I stand to lose over €100,000 (£86,000), not to mention the amount I’ve already lost by them stealing two cars plus the entire contents of both the house and garage.
‘My father had thousands of pounds worth of tools which are all gone… it’s disgusting that they are allowed to get away with it.’
The two-bedroom home is in the village of Sexmo, which sits in the picturesque hills of inland Malaga, but is only around a 20-minute drive from the coast.
It was left to her by her late father, and she was in the process of renovating it when it was first broken into in February 2023.
Louise Bawn, 53, from Bristol, has been battling to win back her €160,000 (£138,000) home in Cartama, Malaga, since it was illegally occupied in early 2023
She told MailOnline she will be lucky to get €30,000 (£26,000) as she must notify buyers that it comes ‘okupado’ – filled with squatters
CCTV footage showed men breaking and entering, meaning the authorities had a right to remove them for breaking the law
Louise went straight to the authorities who she says did nothing to turf the squatters out.
For more than a year, Louise tried everything to get her house back, including hiring a so-called ‘desokupa’ firm, which sees a group of strong-armed men physically remove illegal dwellers.
Louise estimates that she has spent upwards of €20,000 (£17,000) on trying to get her house back, including flights, accommodation and legal fees.
The two cars which were allegedly stolen from her garage were worth €15,000 (£15,000), while her father’s very expensive tools and solar panels he was set to install were valued at €50,000 (£43,000).
The brand new kitchen that was in the middle of being installed was also ripped from the walls and taken away.
The sheer level of destruction was not revealed until September 2024, when police finally removed the squatters after it emerged they were dealing drugs.
The very same day, Louise entered the property to find it had been totally ransacked.
In a video shared with MailOnline, a security team can be seen installing new alarms and security cameras.
Incredibly, just five hours later, the property was taken over by more squatters.
‘I believe there is a network in the area because the person who I saw the first time is not the same one who the alarm caught breaking in,’ Louise added.
The CCTV footage showed men breaking and entering, meaning the authorities had a right to remove them for breaking the law.
Louise has been back and forth with the authorities for the past 10 months but has received no meaningful help
Squatting has long been a scourge on the Spanish property market, but the public are becoming increasingly aware and tired of the lacklustre laws designed to tackle it
Louise estimates that she has spent upwards of €20,000 (£17,000) on trying to get her house back, including flights, accommodation and legal fees
Despite this, when the Guardia Civil showed up, they took the side of the squatters, leaving Louise locked out of her villa once more.
She recalled: ‘We secured the house and within five hours it was broken into again. The Guardia Civil arrived but believed them over us and our estate agent.’
The squatters claimed they had been living there for two years.
‘The police asked if we were sleeping there and when we said no because we were there to secure it and sell it, they just shrugged their shoulders.’
Louise has been back and forth with the authorities for the past 10 months but has received no meaningful help.
In a letter seen by MailOnline, the Foreign Office said it was ‘unable to intervene in the judicial processes of another country.’
Louise said: ‘At some point I have to draw a line and stop throwing good money after bad’, adding that she would ‘never buy a property in Spain’, and never wants to return to the country.
Louise continued: ‘My advice is don’t even consider buying there… my only suggestion is for owners to get a monitored alarm, never leave the property empty for any length of time and get squatters insurance.
‘None of this is a guarantee because I believe some of the police take bribes from the squatters to allow them to stay.
‘The reality of owning a home in Spain is a far cry from the dream life portrayed on property shows.
‘No amount of locks, security gates and alarms will stop the determination of these squatters because the law turns a blind eye and seems to be on their side rather than that of the homeowner.
For more than a year, Louise tried everything to get her house back, including hiring a so-called ‘desokupa’ firm, which sees a group of strong-armed men physically remove illegal dwellers
A new ‘anti-squatter law’ came into effect in April which allows squatters who break into a property to be evicted within 15 days
‘I bet it would be a different story if it was the cops’ property being occupied!’
Squatting has long been a scourge on the Spanish property market, but the public are becoming increasingly aware and tired of the lacklustre laws designed to tackle it.
It comes after a new ‘anti-squatter law’ came into effect in April which allows squatters who break into a property to be evicted within 15 days.
However, it does not apply to tenants who had a rental contract and stopped paying their landlord and refuse to move out.
This has led many squatters to draw up fake rental contracts in a bid to delay their eviction.
It’s just one of the many tactics used by networks of squatters across the country, who make a business out of occupying homes.
British estate agent Paul Stuart, 44, of Palm Estates, has been working along the Costa del Sol for years.
He told MailOnline how the squatter issue has been getting ‘progressively worse’ since Covid.
He said: ‘I’ve got loads of clients affected. It genuinely upsets me what these people are doing to people, it’s so disgusting and immoral, it’s hard to find the words.’
He said the new squatter law does nothing to tackle the problem.
‘The thing is, there is a squatter’s bible online that gives them all the advice on how to manipulate the law.
‘They are trained and make their own contracts, as soon as cops show up they say ‘yep, we are renters here’.’
The sheer level of destruction was not revealed until September 2024, when police finally removed the squatters after it emerged they were dealing drugs
He said once squatters enter an apartment complex, they begin scouting other properties for their network to occupy.
He explained: ‘They are surveying homes, I’ve been following them… they get into one, then watch the others on the development to identify empty properties, then pass that info on…
‘Then they go with the locksmith, change the locks, then sell the keys and move onto another one.’
Paul said it is more difficult to evict squatters in inland areas because the courts are more backlogged.
He added: ‘The squatter issue is progressively getting worse, especially since Covid.
‘There are multiple reasons why, one of them is that the rents are too high for more people, and the government has not done a good job of organising social housing.
‘Finally, the court system doesn’t deal with bad tenants well enough, meaning the risk factor for landlords renting long term is very, very high. This means they either put them on Airbnb instead, depleting demand, or up the rent to account for the risk.’
