The subject of okupas comes up in almost every conversation about buying a house in Spain – usually in its headline version. I have put together the current legislation and official statistics to separate the real risk from media shorthand and show what actually protects an owner in practice.
"Okupas" is a media term, not a legal one. The Spanish Criminal Code (Código Penal) distinguishes between two situations, and almost everything depends on that distinction: the penalty, what the police can do and the route the owner will take.
Article 202 covers situations in which someone enters another person's morada or remains there against the occupant's will. Morada is the place where someone's private life takes place – not just a registered address. The penalty is 6 months to 2 years' imprisonment. If the offender used violence or intimidation, it is 1 to 4 years plus a fine (6 to 12 months of daily-rate units).
Article 245 covers the occupation of a property that is not a morada: an empty flat from a bank's portfolio, an unfinished development or commercial premises. For occupation without violence (Article 245(2)), the court may impose only a fine of 3 to 6 months of daily-rate units. This mild sanction is the source of the belief in "impunity" – but it applies mainly to empty properties, not to homes someone uses.
The Ministry of the Interior publishes its data on the Crime Statistics Portal, in a single combined category covering both offences. In 2025 there were 14,875 incidents known to the police – around 9% fewer than in 2024 (16,426). The highest figure in the series since 2010 was in 2021 (17,274). The data cover all police forces, including regional ones. Nearly 40% of the 2025 cases (5,913) were recorded in Catalonia.
For scale: according to the INE 2021 census , Spain has around 26.6 million homes, of which around 3.8 million stand empty. Even assuming that each incident involved a different home – and the statistics also include commercial premises and land – we are talking about a fraction of a per cent of the housing stock (around 0.06%). The risk exists, but it is unevenly distributed: it is concentrated in certain regions and mainly affects properties that stand empty.
This is the question I hear most often from people planning to spend a few months a year in Spain. From a legal point of view, the answer is fairly reassuring. In Instruction 1/2020 , the Attorney General's Office stated that second homes count as a morada, provided that the owner's private life takes place in them – even periodically. Occupying them should therefore be classified as allanamiento de morada, not the milder usurpación.
In practice, what matters is whether you can show that the house really is used. That is why the evidence I describe below is so important. The most frequent targets remain properties with no sign of life: repossessed by banks and funds, unfinished or uninhabited for years.
Status as of September 2026: in May 2026 Congress accepted for further consideration a private members' organic bill against illegal occupation (no. 122/000254). The bill is at the amendment stage and has not come into force. In September, MPs also passed a non-binding motion (moción) calling on the government to make eviction possible within 24–48 hours. The law in force has not changed – I will return to the subject if work on the bill moves forward.
Two contradictory versions circulate online: that after 48 hours the police "can no longer act", or that an eviction is always over within two days or two weeks. Neither figure comes from the statute.
What the police can do is determined by Article 18(2) of the Constitution: a home may not be entered without consent or a court order, unless there is flagrante delito – an offence in progress or just discovered. In that case officers can respond immediately. If that "immediacy" is missing, a court decides on vacating the property – in criminal proceedings as an interim measure, or through the civil route. The timing depends on the evidence, the type of proceedings and the workload of the particular court. That is why prompt reporting with a full set of documents makes such a difference.
In Spain there are private companies advertising eviction services, known as desokupación. Most often they offer negotiation and mediation with the people occupying the property, protection and securing of the property (e.g. surveillance or securing the doors and windows of an empty property) and cooperation with lawyers who handle the case in court.
It is worth drawing a clear line between the roles. A private company is not the police or a judicial authority and has no independent right to forcibly remove anyone from a property. The formal vacating of a property (desalojo) or eviction (lanzamiento) take place within the relevant proceedings – criminal or civil – and the eviction is carried out under the direction of the court, with police involvement if necessary (Ley de Enjuiciamiento Civil, Article 703). Property security services, in turn, may only be provided by licensed security companies entered in the register and employing authorised staff (Ley 5/2014 de Seguridad Privada, Articles 5 and 18).
The market for these services is controversial in Spain, and the methods of individual companies vary greatly. In February 2025 a congressional committee rejected a motion to outlaw them, and the courts have already handed down judgments for overstepping the law. Threats, violence, harassment, unlawfully cutting off utilities or other forms of pressure may constitute an offence – including coacciones (Article 172 of the Código Penal) or taking the law into one's own hands with violence or intimidation (Article 455 of the Código Penal). Liability may extend not only to those carrying out such actions but also to whoever commissions them.
If you are considering using such a company, first consult a Spanish lawyer (abogado): check that the company has the required licences, ask for a detailed written scope of services and make sure that every step stays within the law. The main route remains a report to the police and proceedings handled by a lawyer.
There is no single sequence of steps that fits every situation. In practice it is worth pursuing several routes in parallel – and the same documents will be useful on each of them.
The title deed, utility bills, dated photos, statements from neighbours and proof of your last stay. These documents allow you to show that the property is yours and that you use it.
Do not take matters into your own hands. Changing the locks yourself, cutting off utilities, making threats or forcibly removing people may be treated as an offence, e.g. coacciones (Article 172 of the Código Penal) – regardless of whether you do it yourself or commission someone else to do it.
If you are planning to buy in Spain and want to go through these steps calmly, with someone who knows them from the inside – I would be glad to talk.
Information verified: 25 September 2026
This article is for information only and is not a substitute for individual legal advice. For your specific case, consult a Spanish lawyer (abogado).
Tell me about your plans – I will be happy to help you find the right direction.
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