Overview

• Official data show average verbal-possession and appeals processes reached 21.5 months in Madrid and 20.4 months in Castilla-La Mancha during 2023, up from around five months in 2018.
• National regulations bar property owners from cutting water, gas or electricity to squatters and restrict police removals to the first 48 hours of occupation.
• In June 2025, British homeowner Joanne Venet spent £4,000 from her late mother’s inheritance and endured over six months of legal action to evict squatters from her Alicante villa.
• The Carcaixent municipal ordinance adopted in July requires owners of homes vacant for more than six months to install physical security measures within six months or face fines up to €3,000 and empowers local police to evict non-resident squatters without court orders.
• Under the new rules, owners must initiate judicial eviction proceedings within two months for habitual occupants and can access accelerated administrative processes that halve deadlines in declared emergencies.