Costa Almeria council standing up for tougher action on squatting

ADRA council is standing up for tougher action on squatting.

The local authority has called on the Spanish government “to promote the necessary reforms to defend property.”
More specifically the administration wants to see measures like giving municipal councils the authority to evict squatters and harsher sanctions imposed on illegal occupations involving violence or where properties are used for sexual exploitation or drug trafficking.
Adra also argues in favour of giving community of owner meetings the authority to press for evictions of properties in cases which affect other residents in a community.
At the same time the council has pledged to draw up its own municipal plan “to combat the seizure of properties and to preserve the right of private property.”
The move got the backing of the members of the conservative Popular Party, the centrist Ciudadanos and the far-right Vox party, while the leftist PSOE and Plataforma abstained.
The plan will, the council said, aim to “ensure the return of properties to their legitimate owners.”
It will seek to strengthen cooperation between administrations and institutions, especially State security forces and Justice, “to increase efficiency in the battle against squatting” and to establish “speedy” action protocols.
According to the municipal administration the plan should also contain measures to increase the security and monitoring of abandoned properties which are likely targets for squatters and consultancy services for affected owners.