Costa News Spain Breaking News | English News in Spain.
Residents of Denia’s Les Marines neighborhood say professional squatters occupy empty apartments before extorting owners.
It is important to note that the word “you” means “you”. Levante-EMV The newspaper reported that organised intruders were taking advantage of the high number of holiday properties left vacant at this time.
The process firstly involves ‘scouts’ that seek to identify unoccupied homes within apartment blocks.
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They are looking for indicators that the owner is putting their laundry outside to dry.
After weeks of careful monitoring, the thieves break into the house and replace the lock on its front door.
A new key is then sold to a ‘final’ squatter who buys it for as much as €3,000.
Residents claim the final stage of the process amounts to blackmail.
When the legitimate owner returns they are asked for money by the squatter in order to get them to leave.
The only option is to pay.
Homeowners’ associations have complained to the Denia Policia Local.
The police advise that you change the lock on the main entrance to apartment blocks as quickly as possible.
It will also reduce thefts and vandalism.
There has been an apparent boom in the purchase of alarm systems by property owners in Les Marines due to this increase in organised squatting.
