<story><title>Squatting in Spain: Understanding Spain&apos;s &quot;okupas&quot; problem</title><url>https://www.idealista.com/en/news/legal-advice-in-spain/2024/04/15/816509-squatting-in-spain-understanding-spain-s-okupas-problem</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>Aurornis</author><text>&amp;gt; There&amp;#x27;s clearly a gap between imaginary noble okupas addressing housing crisis via occupation of unused bank property and reality of weed smoking anarchists and their collaborating deoccupying mafia harassing mostly not-so-rich middle class, who can&amp;#x27;t afford the security measures the rich can.&lt;p&gt;I had a friend who bought a house that needed a lot of work. Before he could get started on the remodel, someone broke in to the empty house, changed the locks, and started occupying it.&lt;p&gt;I remember being shocked that someone could do this and be protected under the law. He had to follow a formal eviction process, even though they broke into his house and never had any agreement. The perpetrators were known to the police as professional squatters and they advised him on all the things to avoid doing so they wouldn’t countersue him, which was mind blowing.&lt;p&gt;Even weirder was to watch the reaction on his social media when he posted the story. A lot of people, including many of his friends, jumped to defending squatter’s rights or trying to make some broader point about inequality.&lt;p&gt;There’s something about squatting that appeals to people who think it’s always a RobinHood situation: Stealing from the rich, giving to the poor. It’s more fun to imagine these people as noble warriors against an unjust society, rather than seem them as people abusing the laws for personal gain at the expense of random victims. Even here on HN there are comments trying to downplay the issue by portraying the victims as mostly wealthy or landlords, which are presumably acceptable victims to people who like these kind of narratives.</text></item><item><author>rudnevr</author><text>I live in Spain and own property in Spain. There&amp;#x27;s clearly a gap between imaginary noble okupas addressing housing crisis via occupation of unused bank property and reality of weed smoking anarchists and their collaborating deoccupying mafia harassing mostly not-so-rich middle class, who can&amp;#x27;t afford the security measures the rich can. It&amp;#x27;s not a small problem, there&amp;#x27;s like 12K cases per year last time I checked. Everybody knows the problem exists, most people take extra, otherwise not necessary measures against it. The leftist govt adds to the problem somehow rationalizing it and trying to channel poor&amp;#x27;s frustration onto middle-class, while the actual abusers, who are well aware of the problem, stay safe.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>shanemhansen</author><text>It can be surprising to be on the other end of something and see the lack of sympathy.&lt;p&gt;I went on a group hike once and somehow ended up telling people that my house had been broken into. It was a bummer. Actual monetary damages about 10k, but so many little gifts and heirlooms that were irreplaceable. It&amp;#x27;s hard to express the sense of violation. They also stole some of my wife&amp;#x27;s underwear which was just gross.&lt;p&gt;Someone replied with &amp;quot;well maybe if they were paid a living wage they wouldn&amp;#x27;t have to steal&amp;quot;. Because obviously stealing my wife&amp;#x27;s underwear is much like stealing a loaf of bread to survive ala les miserables.&lt;p&gt;It&amp;#x27;s like all nuance has been lost. Some people think that if you believe that the housing situation isn&amp;#x27;t great then you just have to be pro anything that calls itself a solution.&lt;p&gt;I hope they eventually figure out that&amp;#x27;s not necessary.</text></comment>
<story><title>Squatting in Spain: Understanding Spain&apos;s &quot;okupas&quot; problem</title><url>https://www.idealista.com/en/news/legal-advice-in-spain/2024/04/15/816509-squatting-in-spain-understanding-spain-s-okupas-problem</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>Aurornis</author><text>&amp;gt; There&amp;#x27;s clearly a gap between imaginary noble okupas addressing housing crisis via occupation of unused bank property and reality of weed smoking anarchists and their collaborating deoccupying mafia harassing mostly not-so-rich middle class, who can&amp;#x27;t afford the security measures the rich can.&lt;p&gt;I had a friend who bought a house that needed a lot of work. Before he could get started on the remodel, someone broke in to the empty house, changed the locks, and started occupying it.&lt;p&gt;I remember being shocked that someone could do this and be protected under the law. He had to follow a formal eviction process, even though they broke into his house and never had any agreement. The perpetrators were known to the police as professional squatters and they advised him on all the things to avoid doing so they wouldn’t countersue him, which was mind blowing.&lt;p&gt;Even weirder was to watch the reaction on his social media when he posted the story. A lot of people, including many of his friends, jumped to defending squatter’s rights or trying to make some broader point about inequality.&lt;p&gt;There’s something about squatting that appeals to people who think it’s always a RobinHood situation: Stealing from the rich, giving to the poor. It’s more fun to imagine these people as noble warriors against an unjust society, rather than seem them as people abusing the laws for personal gain at the expense of random victims. Even here on HN there are comments trying to downplay the issue by portraying the victims as mostly wealthy or landlords, which are presumably acceptable victims to people who like these kind of narratives.</text></item><item><author>rudnevr</author><text>I live in Spain and own property in Spain. There&amp;#x27;s clearly a gap between imaginary noble okupas addressing housing crisis via occupation of unused bank property and reality of weed smoking anarchists and their collaborating deoccupying mafia harassing mostly not-so-rich middle class, who can&amp;#x27;t afford the security measures the rich can. It&amp;#x27;s not a small problem, there&amp;#x27;s like 12K cases per year last time I checked. Everybody knows the problem exists, most people take extra, otherwise not necessary measures against it. The leftist govt adds to the problem somehow rationalizing it and trying to channel poor&amp;#x27;s frustration onto middle-class, while the actual abusers, who are well aware of the problem, stay safe.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>gsky</author><text>Law abiding citizens are the suckers it seems everywhere. It&amp;#x27;s easy to be nobel and generous when you are not the one being taken advantage of.&lt;p&gt;Regardless of who benefits from Lawlessness, it always ends up  destroying the society</text></comment>