Alex Trelinski
AN ELDERLY Spanish couple have breathed a sigh of relief after a British squatter moved out of their Mallorca apartment after not paying rent for around 18 months.
Maria Elena Collado and Jose Maria Perez- both in their seventies- own the seafront property within an apartment block in Calvia’s El Toro area.
Events took an unwelcome turn after a British woman and her two children moved in with an Irish national almost three years ago.
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The €900 monthly rent was paid until the Irish man left in November 2023.
Rent shortly afterwards stopped being handed over- leaving around €17,000 owed.
On top of that were charges for water, garbage, property tax, plus community fees.
Maria Elena Collado, 70, said the three-bedroomed flat was bought to bring in extra money because she and Jose Maria only had self-employed pensions.
When the non-payments started, the couple hired a lawyer after being told by Calvia Council that the British woman and the children could not be evicted because they are a ‘vulnerable family’.
The illegal tenant had her legal costs covered by the council, while the pensioners had to pay for their lawyer, who told them the Brit could not be evicted.
Maria Elena told the Diario de Mallorca newspaper: “She said she didn’t work and that she couldn’t but I wondered how a 45-year-old woman who is strong, cannot work.”
She expressed her gratitude towards the Affected Occupation Platform and Calvia councillor, Juana Maria Prats, for their help during a ‘difficult’ time.
Platform spokesperson, Ricardo Bravo, told Diario de Mallorca that the case of the British squatter was an example of law introduced during the Covid-19 pandemic that made it harder to evict squatters in financial difficulties if they got a social services report that backed them.
Maria Elena said the apartment had been ‘quite destroyed’ with damage to walls and furnishings, along with broken glass.
Despite interest from potential tenants after hearing about her plight, she’s decided to carry out repairs and sell the apartment.
“We are chastened as we have lost trust in people,” she added.
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This is insanity. Only in Spain can you occupy an apartment legaly!