Community rallies around to help rid squatters from elderly home in Basque Country

SQUATTERS have been finally evicted from a 94 year olds home after they moved in whilst she was visiting her sister.

Victoria de Castro had been away for two days visiting her elderly sister when a family of professional squatters moved into her Basque Country home.

When she returned and found the family had moved in to the home, friends and neighbours came together to surround the lady’s home to force the illegal squatters to leave.

The gathering started at 6pm on Thursday 18 October and continued into the night.

A statement from a group spokesperson was read out demanding a solution from the authorities.

Victoria de Castro simply stated, “I’ve been living here since 1931, please, I want to go home.”

Eventually, after being threatened with kicking the door down, the squatters called the police and demanded police protection in exchange for their leaving of the home.

Among the angry crowd, the squatters were removed with police protection and an official complaint has been filed against them for trespassing and inhabitation of property.

“I have to thank the residents of Portugalete, because without their help this would have been impossible,” said Jesús, one of De Castro’s nephews.

The squatters have been described by some local residents as professionals with a history of taking over people’s homes.

“When several of us challenged a young woman of around 20 who walked out of the house on Wednesday, she first pretended to moon us, then threatened us with a knife,” said one local resident.

In normal Spanish law, with an amendment introduced in 2018, police have 30 days to remove squatting residents; however public pressure in this case led authorities to act quicker.