A proposed motion to make it easier to evict squatters in Spain has been made in the National Parliament in Madrid.
The proposal was made by PDeCAT Catalan separatist party, underlined by Catalonia having the biggest squatter problem in Spain, with over 40 per cent of all reported cases.
The proposed motion was aired in the Spanish Congress of Deputies, in an attempt to make it possible to evict squatters within 48 hours, and empower neighbourhoods and town councils to take legal action against squatters.
The motion was proposed by PDeCAT, a Catalan nationalist party with a dominant history in Catalan politics and past life as power broker in Madrid.
A stumbling block to press the proposal forward is that the PDeCAT has a paltry four seats in the national parliament in Madrid, and none in the regional parliament in Catalonia.
The PDeCAT is proposing a change to the criminal justice law article 544 to allow evictions within 48 hours if the occupiers cannot produce a property deed, or rental contract, to justify their presence in a property.
They also propose changing the law for communities of owners – Ley de Propiedad Horizontal – to enable communities to start civil proceedings against squatters, to get them evicted in cases where the owners do not start criminal proceedings against them.
The PDeCAT propose giving town councils powers to evict squatters, if neither of the other two avenues are pursued: “Squatting affects property rights, but also the local community and town halls need instruments to deal with this,” said Genis Boadella, PDeCAT deputy presenting the motion.
The PDeCAT opposition CUP party of Catalonia supports squatters.
Caption: Genis Boadella, PDeCAT deputy.
