It's the nightmare of every foreign homeowner in Spain: you arrive at your house on the Costa after months away, and someone else is living there. Squatters — okupas — are a real and growing problem. The good news: with the right preparation, your home is far easier to protect than you might think. It all comes down to two factors.
Why an empty home is a target
A large share of holiday homes along the Spanish coast sit empty for most of the year. For organised squatter groups, that's exactly the profile they look for: no residents, no daily oversight, and an owner living hundreds of kilometres away. Once they're inside, a legal battle begins that — without evidence — can cost you months or even years.
But that battle is decided in the first few minutes. And that's something you can prepare for.
"When it comes to protecting property against squatters, everything hinges on two things: how quickly there's a response, and how compelling the evidence is."
The two factors that decide everything
Speed of response
Under Spanish law, the crucial distinction is between a crime caught in the act (delito flagrante) and a situation where squatters are already "established". If a monitored alarm station responds within seconds and alerts the police, they can act immediately. If it takes too long, you're referred to the courts.
Compelling legal evidence
The best-known trick of okupas is to change the lock and claim they've "been living here for more than 48 hours". Without counter-evidence, the police are powerless. With immutable photo and audio recordings of the moment of entry, that claim collapses entirely.
How a professionally monitored system makes the difference
An ordinary alarm just makes noise — and experienced squatters know they have a few minutes before anyone arrives. A professionally monitored system does three things a standalone siren cannot:
Instant legal evidence
The moment the sensors trigger, the monitoring station captures photo and audio recordings immutably in the cloud. The operator confirms to the police that the crime is being committed right now — caught in the act. The okupas can no longer claim they already live there.
Actively driving them out, not just informing
Some systems go beyond alerting. On a confirmed break-in, Verisure remotely activates a smoke generator (ZeroVision®): within seconds, visibility inside the home drops to zero. A house you can't see is a house you can't occupy — the intruders are forced outside. The fog is harmless to health, but utterly disorienting.
Immune to signal jammers
Organised groups often use jammers (inhibidores) to silence a conventional alarm's signal. In Spain, Verisure uses its own radio network (ATN) that is immune to this: if the connection drops, it's treated as sabotage and emergency services are dispatched immediately.
Verisure in Spain, in figures
Market leader in Europe — and the benchmark in the Spanish security industry
What you can do yourself
Alongside a professional alarm system, simple measures help too: make your home look occupied, arrange local oversight (for example through keyholding), and keep your ownership documents and utility contracts in order — these are legally valuable as proof that you are the rightful owner and occupant.
The combination of a local point of contact and a monitored alarm-and-camera system gives you the strongest position: someone who can be on site quickly, plus a system that builds the legal evidence from second one.
Frequently asked questions about okupas
Can the police remove okupas from my property immediately?
What is the okupas' 48-hour trick?
Does a regular alarm system help against okupas?
Secure your home with Verisure — with a discount
AnaCosta refers you to Verisure. Our installer assesses your situation and draws up a sharp quote, including a special discount because you come through AnaCosta. Entirely without obligation.