Squatters in Spain: what the US warns and the real risk on the Costa del Sol

The US State Department says Spanish law and slow courts allow squatters in Spain to stay in empty homes for years, even though the same report calls the country “especially attractive” for investment. The risk is real, but on the Costa del Sol it is below average: in the province of Malaga there were 348 cases of unlawful entry and squatting in 2025, 19.4 per 100,000 inhabitants compared with 30.3 across Spain.

What does the US report say about investing in Spain?

The document is the State Department’s annual investment climate report, and the 2026 edition on Spain came out at the end of September. Its overall verdict is positive: Spain grew 2.8% in 2025, almost double the eurozone average (1.5%), received €30.8 billion in foreign direct investment and counts the United States as its largest investor, with €10 billion that year. It also highlights a skilled workforce, relatively cheap energy, Europe’s largest high-speed rail network and the weight of real estate among the sectors that attract the most foreign capital.

But it also records investors’ usual complaints: slow paperwork and licensing, up to 17 regional rulebooks applied unevenly, a growing use of emergency legislation without public consultation, relatively high taxes and rising labour and energy costs. And it devotes a paragraph to squatting: the law, combined with court backlogs and understaffing, lets people occupy empty homes for years with few options for the owner.

Applied to buying a home on the coast, this is what each point means:

How common is squatting in Málaga and the rest of Spain?

The official statistics of the Ministry of the Interior group together unlawful entry and the unlawful occupation of property, the closest thing to a measure of squatting. In 2025 they recorded 14,875 cases across Spain, 9.4% fewer than in 2024 and the lowest figure since 2020. Almost three in ten were in the province of Barcelona.

The province closed 2025 with 348 cases, 22.8% fewer than the year before and the lowest figure since 2016. Relative to its population it is well below the average and a long way from Girona, which tops the list with 86.6 cases per 100,000 inhabitants. We calculated the rate using INE population figures at 1 January 2025.

Two caveats: the figure counts incidents known to the police, not convictions, and it does not include the so-called inquiokupación, the tenant who stops paying, which is handled as an eviction for non-payment rather than as a crime.

How long does it take to evict a squatter in Spain?

The 18-month average quoted by Washington refers to 2021 and to evictions through the civil courts. Since then the rules have changed in three ways worth knowing:

• Fast-track civil eviction (Law 5/2018): if the owner is an individual, a non-profit or a social housing body, the court gives the occupants five days to produce a valid title; if they cannot, it orders their eviction with no right of appeal.
• Criminal fast-track trials (since 3 April 2025): unlawful entry into a home and squatting can be tried through the fast-track procedure when the police arrest the occupants or summon them before the duty court.
• Eviction moratorium: the suspension for vulnerable occupants only ever covered homes owned by companies or by people with more than ten properties, never an individual’s main or second home, and according to the consolidated text in the Official State Gazette it ceased to apply on 31 December 2025, after Congress revoked in January and February the two decrees that extended it.

There is also a practical point: if the break-in is detected while it is happening, it is a crime in progress and the police can step in without waiting for a judge. That is why an alarm linked to a monitoring centre is one of the best defences for an empty home.

The 2023 Housing Law, which the report also mentions, requires the claim to state whether the occupant lives there as a main home and whether the owner is a large property holder. The Constitutional Court struck down other requirements it had added in January 2025, so for an individual with a second home it is mostly a formality.

How can you protect a second home from squatters?

The aim is for the home never to look abandoned and for any intrusion to be detected straight away. These are the most effective measures:

• An alarm linked to a monitoring centre, plus cameras, so that the police can act while the intrusion is in progress.
• Regular visits by someone you trust or a property management company, with the mailbox emptied and the shutters opened from time to time.
• Paperwork at hand: title deed or land registry extract, property tax (IBI) receipts and utility bills in your name, so you can prove at once that the house is yours.
• Home insurance with legal cover that includes squatting and, if you let the property, rent default insurance.
• Before buying, checking that the property is handed over free of occupants, especially if a bank or a fund is selling it.

The surroundings matter too. In our portfolio, 63.5% of the homes for sale advertise at least one of these three features: a gated development, 24-hour security or an alarm. The figures cover 8,295 flats and houses for sale in October 2026, based on what each listing declares, so they are a minimum.

The differences are large. In Benahavís almost half of the homes advertise round-the-clock security and in Marbella three in ten do, while in the municipality of Málaga, with more flats in city buildings, only just over one in four declares any feature. For a second home, a development with access control and year-round neighbours is, in practice, the best antidote to squatting.

What other risks does the US flag for property investors?

For a property investor, the most useful warning in the report is not squatting but regulatory instability. This year Congress revoked, in January and February, two decree-laws that extended the eviction moratorium, and on 6 October, one day after parliament was dissolved for the 29 November election, the government approved two more, 28/2026 and 29/2026, which change the rental rules and several housing taxes.

The clearest example for the coast is VAT on holiday lets. From 1 December 2026, renting a furnished home for 30 nights or fewer to the same guest is no longer exempt and pays 10% VAT, unless the property is the owner’s main residence. Both decrees must be validated within 30 days of their approval and, with parliament dissolved, that vote falls to the Standing Committee of Congress.

The same goes for the regional fragmentation the report criticises: Andalusia applies its own transfer tax, 7% on the purchase of a resale home, its own 2025 housing law and its own holiday-let register. That is why every deal should be checked against Andalusian rules rather than generic Spanish ones.

Is it still a good idea to invest in property on the Costa del Sol?

The report itself places real estate among the sectors that receive the most foreign investment and stresses that buying property is open to any nationality. The fundamentals are still there: growth above the European average, international demand and a market that, according to our monthly price report, shows a median of €650,000 and €4,738 per square metre in coastal listings in October 2026.

The sensible approach is to buy with your eyes open: choose areas and developments with good security, budget for Andalusian taxes, avoid relying on a single rental model that a decree could change, and keep the home monitored while you are away.

In short: should squatters worry you when buying on the Costa del Sol?

Not to the point of changing your plans. Squatting exists and the US report is right that Spanish justice is slow, but in the province of Málaga the rate is more than a third below the national average, the 2018 and 2025 reforms give private owners fast-track routes, and most homes for sale in our portfolio advertise some kind of security.

If you are thinking of buying, our team can help you choose a home in a secure development and check its legal and occupancy status before you sign.

This article is for general information only and is not a substitute for a lawyer’s advice on your specific case.

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