The Platform of Those Affected by Occupation and Inquioccupation (PAO) returns this week to the European Parliament to present before the Committee on Petitions the situation of small Spanish property owners affected by squatting and inquiokupación.
For the organization, it is a phenomenon that, although minor in numbers, has serious consequences for those who are small owners and must bear expenses that they cannot always sustain. According to the platform, the problem has increased since the pandemic, especially due to the paralysis of evictions, which for years has left many owners unable to recover their properties.
The battle of the data
The president of PAO, Ricardo Bravo, insists that official statistics offer a partial view. “The latest available data is from 2024, with 16,426 complaints, but it does not include mediations or civil cases such as ‘precarious’ or ‘inquiokupación’,” he explains. According to his estimates, these cases could reach 80,000, in line with reports such as that of the Institut Cerdà, which estimated 78,800 occupied homes.
For Bravo, the most relevant data are not the numbers, but who is affected: small owners who in many cases are individuals with few resources and who are forced to assume economic burdens that should be handled by the administration or by public support mechanisms.
According to Bravo, the decay of the omnibus Royal Decree-Law, where Junts has been decisive -in fact the PAO held a meeting with Carles Puigdemont- has marked a turning point. “With the end of this decree, the courts are beginning to set dates for trials, and families are beginning to recover their homes”, he explains.
The platform recognizes that it is still early to elaborate precise statistics, but points out that the general feeling is of progress, once the RDL that curbed evictions has fallen. In this sense, Bravo emphasizes that its objective is not to question the protection of the most vulnerable, but that this does not fall on the owners, preventing those who already bear significant expenses from also ending up in situations of vulnerability.
social housing in spain
Ministerial Order
According to data from the Bank of Spain, since 2018, the construction of social housing in Spain has been limited compared to other European countries. Between 2018 and 2023, the annual average of completed protected housing units was around 8,500 units.
The most notable rebound occurred in 2024, with 14,371 definitively qualified housing units, the highest figure in a decade, and an increase of 62% compared to the previous year, according to cbre, an American company specializing in real estate services and investments. This trend -it points out- reflects a boost in the promotion of protected housing after the pandemic, although it remains insufficient to meet demand.
According to this same company, the geographical distribution is very uneven. Madrid concentrated almost half of the protected housing units completed in 2024, followed by Catalonia and the Basque Country, while regions such as Murcia, Cantabria, or La Rioja barely registered any units. Data from ocu indicate that between 2019 and 2024, of the more than 60,000 housing units built, Madrid contributed nearly 42%, Catalonia 16%, and the Basque Country 12%.
Despite the increase, Spain remains below the European average in social housing, with barely 2.5% of the residential stock compared to 9% in Europe. Experts and organizations such as the Bank of Spain estimate that hundreds of thousands of additional units would be necessary, especially social rental housing, to approach the levels of other countries.
From the approach of the minister to silence
Furthermore, Bravo denounces the loss of dialogue with the PSOE, with whom they maintained contacts in Brussels in 2024 and perceived some interest in the situation of small owners. “At that time, Minister Isabel Rodríguez seemed aware of the problem, but over time this dialogue has been diluting,” he explains, adding that despite this the platform will continue trying to dialogue.
In the face of these demands, the Minister of Housing, Isabel Rodríguez, maintains that there is no generalized occupation crisis and that the focus should be on guaranteeing access to affordable housing.
This contrast reflects the tension between the vision of those affected, who demand quick and balanced solutions, and the Government's stance, focused on social protection policies and market regulation.