The x-ray of the squatting in the Community of Madrid It should be, in any case, the check between various medical units. Because we cannot talk about a single diagnosis. Depending on the source used, the disease is more or … less serious. For now, the cases known to the Security Forces and Bodies, the official data provided by the Ministry of the Interior speak of 1,516 complaints for raids (articles 202 and 203 of the Penal Code) and usurpations (245.1 and 245.2) of real estate. A figure that represents 9.91% of the total for that period, 2023 (the last complete one available) of the 15,289 in the entire Spanish territory. The trend is downward, since in 2022 there were 1,517 (just one more) and 16,765, respectively. In the Community of Madrid, according to the National Institute of Statistics (INE), there are 2,894,679 family homes. In short, 0.51% of the total, which would not exactly reflect a pressing problem today.
However, the hidden figure is much larger. Enormously higher, according to the Platform of People Affected by the Occupation: “There are 9,000 properties, making a low estimate, because many affected people do not report to seek extrajudicial solutions, which are increasingly common due to the slowness of justice.” One of them is the greater recurrence of eviction companies, which have multiplied like mushrooms.
What is happening then to cause this gap between the official statistics and the associates’ cases? For now, Bravo says that 70% of those 9,000 raided homes are squatters, a term that is increasingly familiar to the general public. It refers to tenants who have stopped paying the monthly payment to their landlords, which, according to the platform, are seven out of ten in the Community of Madrid. “And this, without taking into account the current cases of Carabanchel, El yesero or Torrejón, as well as many others in the region,” explains Ricardo Bravo to ABC.
This past Tuesday, their association met with the vice mayor and delegate of Security and Emergencies of the Madrid City Council, Inma Sanz, to address, among others, the issue of the thirty homes usurped in a private development on Calle Excellent, 6, in the Ensanche of Carabanchel. The councilor and right hand of José Luis Martínez-Almeida has committed to “implementing all the measures” that are in her power (Municipal Police collaborates with the National Police in the investigation of the mafia that ‘gave in’ for 2,500-3,000 euros each floor to Peruvian families in an illegal situation); and called them to another meeting in which they will explicitly address the issue of squatting.
In this sense, Bravo emphasizes that the squatting in Carabanchel “represents 28 complaints, but in reality there are 110 affected”, in reference to the rest of the legal residents who are right now in the middle of the war between the usurpers and the property, a real estate company. “The data cannot be calculated because, in addition, it varies greatly depending on where the squatting occurs; there are both low-rise buildings and large urbanizations,” he points out. Always, therefore, speak of approximate figures.
If we stick to public housing, which depends on the regional agency, in the AVS (former Ivima), there are 2,350 in an irregular situation: “They include irregular occupations detected by this body due to illegal transfer to third parties, stays of family members without rights after the absence or death of the owner, illegal sale of keys, etc., as well as homes attacked with violence, which are 15% of those 2,350,” they explain. to ABC from the Ministry of Transport, Infrastructure and Housing. The total stock of the autonomous body is 25,000 houses and apartments.
931 houses recovered
Furthermore, the same informant points out that in the period 2019-2023, the AVS has recovered 600 homes, almost 13 per month, and that in the first year and a half of the current legislature (the third of Isabel Díaz Ayuso) 331 have been released , more than 18 per month (almost 47% more). “These are data that show the Community’s firm decision to fight against illegal occupation,” the organization insists.
Regarding the telephone number launched by the regional government (900 205 112), as of January 5, 2025, 3,701 calls have been received. 211 Madrid citizens have been assisted and on 40 occasions professionals have been able to prevent the break-in or usurpation of a home or evict it thanks to this initiative, which launched in the summer of 2022.
Striking are the data managed by the other major Madrid public body, the Municipal Housing and Land Company of the Madrid City Council. “The EMVS suffers the occupation of 28 homes, all of them prosecuted, which represents 0.3% of the entire assets of the municipal company, which amounts to almost 9,200,” indicate sources from the local entity.
The same informants take heart from the data: «At EMVS Madrid we have zero tolerance for the forcible squatting of municipal assets, because we are clear that these are homes that belong to all Madrid residents and that we have to guarantee that their access is by procedures that guarantee equal opportunities for all applicants for affordable rental housing. To achieve this, we use all the mechanisms at our disposal, both preventive and reactive security, in the event of any case that may occur.”
Detained
Regarding police action, based on the year 2023, 1,212 cases of break-ins and usurpations were clarified in the Madrid region (1,133 in 2022), and respectively there were 11,426 and 12,271 in the national territory.
On the other hand, the Community was the scene of 943 arrests for these crimes in 2023 (731 in 2022), compared to 9,459 and 9,721 (both periods compared) in all of Spain. This last section does not include the arrests carried out by the Mossos d’Esquadra.
Finally, there are the victimizations due to usurpations or raids registered by the Ministry of the Interior: 622 in 2023 (6,664 nationally) and 705 in 2022 in the Community of Madrid (6,679).
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