Squatters in your flat: the fast criminal route and the civil one
Last updated 2026-09-01 · Reviewed by Jaime Piñeira Pardo, registered with the ICAM bar, no. 138826
The short answer
Two routes are run at once. On the criminal side, a complaint for allanamiento de morada (unlawful entry into a dwelling) or for usurpación (unlawful occupation), offences that since April 2025 can be heard under the fast-track route. On the civil side, a claim for immediate recovery of possession, which lapses one year after dispossession and is exempt from the prior settlement attempt. This is not merely a civil matter.
You own a second home on the coast that you only use in summer. In February a neighbour warns you that there are people inside, with the lights on and the lock changed. You go there, nobody opens, and you call the police, who tell you they cannot enter and that you should go down the civil route. The occupiers have already applied for utility connections. You pay the service charge and the tax on a flat you cannot set foot in, and you have been told this takes years.
The case, in five lines
- What is brought
- A criminal complaint for allanamiento de morada or for usurpación and, in parallel, a civil claim for the immediate recovery of full possession of the home.
- Before which court
- On the criminal side, the Investigation section of the Tribunal de Instancia (the first-instance court) sitting on duty and, for trial, its Criminal section. On the civil side, the Civil section of the Tribunal de Instancia where the property lies.
- Deadline
- The criminal complaint should be filed at once, because the occupation continues for as long as it lasts. The civil action for summary protection of possession lapses one year from the dispossession.
- Who can bring it
- Immediate recovery of the home may be sought by the individual who owns it or lawfully possesses it on another title, by non-profit entities entitled to possess it and by public bodies owning or lawfully possessing social housing.
- Financial risk
- If the complaint is shelved because who is inside and since when cannot be proved, months are lost. In the civil case, a claim wrongly directed or dismissed adds an order for costs to the original problem.
Whether the home is a dwelling in use decides which offence is reported
Article 202 of the Criminal Code punishes with six months to two years in prison a private individual who, without living there, enters another person's dwelling or remains in it against the occupant's will, and raises the penalty to one to four years plus a fine of six to twelve months where violence or intimidation is used. This is the offence that fits a home somebody is actually living in.
Article 245 of the same Code separates two situations. Its paragraph 1 punishes with one to two years in prison anyone who, using violence or intimidation against persons, occupies immovable property or usurps another's real property right. Its paragraph 2 punishes with a fine of three to six months anyone who occupies without due authorisation another's property, home or building that is not a dwelling in use, or stays in it against the owner's will.
The classification is not an academic nuance. The penalty depends on it, and with the penalty the strength of the measures that can be sought. That is why the work begins by proving the use you made of the property: a second home occupied every August is not defended in the same way as a flat empty for five years, and the evidence of that use is prepared before reporting the offence, not afterwards.
Since April 2025 occupation offences enter the fast-track route
Organic Act 1/2025 added to article 795 of the Criminal Procedure Act, with effect from 3 April 2025, two new letters to its list of offences: (i) unlawful entry into a dwelling under article 202 of the Criminal Code, and (j) unlawful occupation under article 245. Both are thereby brought into the catalogue of fast-track offences, from which they were previously excluded.
That same article 795 sets the conditions. The case must be opened on the basis of a police report, and the judicial police must have arrested a person and brought them before the duty service, or have summoned them as a suspect named in that report. The penalties may not exceed five years of imprisonment, or ten years if of another kind. Occupation of a home fits within those limits.
Hence the first decision is operational rather than legal: making sure a police report exists and that the occupiers are identified in it. Without that report there is no fast-track route and the matter returns to the ordinary pace. This is why the call to the police is prepared with documents in hand and does not end in a phone report with no follow-up.
The civil route does not wait for the prior settlement attempt
Article 5 of Organic Act 1/2025 requires, as a general rule in civil matters, prior resort to an appropriate dispute resolution method. Its paragraph 2 expressly excepts, among other matters, the summary protection of the holding or possession of a thing or right by someone who has been dispossessed of it or disturbed in its enjoyment. The occupation of a home is exactly that situation.
The practical consequence is that there is no need to negotiate with whoever entered without permission, nor to prove any prior attempt before filing the claim. In a problem where every week counts, saving that stage matters a great deal. The claim can be filed on the very same day the occupiers are identified and the owner's title is properly documented.
Who may seek the immediate recovery of the home
Article 250.1.4 of the Civil Procedure Act sends the summary protection of possession to the juicio verbal (the shorter form of civil proceedings) and adds a decisive second paragraph: immediate recovery of full possession of a home or part of it may be sought, provided they were deprived of it without their consent, by the individual owner or lawful possessor on another title, by non-profit entities entitled to possess it and by public bodies owning or lawfully possessing social housing.
Article 438.7 completes the mechanism. If the defendant or defendants do not answer the claim within the statutory period, judgment is given immediately, and a judgment upholding the claim may be enforced on the claimant's application without waiting for the twenty-day period of article 548. This is the provision that turns the occupier's silence into eviction rather than into delay.
Precario and dispossession are not the same, and the deadline changes
Article 250.1.2 of the Civil Procedure Act covers recovery of full possession of property held on sufferance, brought by the owner, the usufructuary or any other person entitled to possess it. This is the route for the relative allowed to live in the flat, the former employee or anyone who came in with permission and no longer has it. There was no dispossession there, only a tolerance that is withdrawn.
The difference matters because of the time limit. The summary possessory action under paragraph 4 lapses one year after the dispossession, whereas recovery against someone holding on sufferance does not. Choosing the wrong route can mean arriving late for one action and having to start again with another, with months lost and the occupiers more firmly settled in.
How we run the case, step by step
- 1
Establish what the property is and since when it is occupied
We gather the deed and the land registry extract, the utility and service charge bills, and the evidence of the use you made of the property. The date of dispossession is documented from day one, because the civil action's time limit depends on it.
- 2
Criminal complaint and police report
We file the complaint classifying the facts as unlawful entry into a dwelling or as unlawful occupation according to the proven use, and we work to ensure there is a police report identifying the occupiers, which is what opens the door to the fast-track route.
- 3
Appearing as private prosecutor
We appear in the case so as not to depend on anyone else's initiative: we request the identification measures, submit the evidence of title and of dates, and apply for measures allowing the home to be recovered without waiting for a final judgment.
- 4
Civil claim in parallel
We file the claim for immediate recovery of possession with no prior negotiation stage, because that subject matter is excepted from the requirement. It is directed against the identified occupiers and against the unknown occupiers of the home.
- 5
Judgment and enforcement of the eviction
If they do not answer, we ask for judgment to be given at once and enforced without waiting the twenty days of article 548. We coordinate the eviction date, the lock change and the report recording the state in which the home is left.
- 6
Claim for the damage caused
Once the home is recovered, we quantify the damage, the utilities consumed and the service charges with a written estimate and a photographic record, and we claim that sum against those who are identified and solvent.
The evidence that decides the case
- The title deed and an up-to-date land registry extract in your name.
- The utility, insurance and service charge bills showing that you were maintaining the property.
- The notarial record or photographic report of the state of the property before and after the entry.
- The police report identifying the occupiers and giving the date on which the occupation was recorded.
- The statement of the caretaker, the building manager or the neighbours as to when the occupiers appeared.
- The locksmith's or alarm company's report on the forcing or replacement of the lock.
What closes the door
- Going in on your own to change the lock or cut off the power. It turns the owner into the person reported and hands the occupiers the victim's position in the very same case.
- Letting more than a year pass since the dispossession. The summary possessory action is lost and the case has to be redirected through a slower route.
- Reporting the offence without having prepared the evidence of the property's use, which leads to a wrong classification and to the case being shelved for lack of definition.
- Agreeing verbally that they will leave in exchange for money without documenting anything. If they stay, you have lost weeks and have acknowledged a situation later used against you.
- Suing only the known occupiers. If there are further unidentified people in the home, the judgment may be of no practical use against them.
The law that applies
- Art. 202 CP. Punishes with six months to two years in prison anyone who, without living there, enters another's dwelling or stays in it against the occupant's will, and with one to four years plus a six to twelve month fine where violence or intimidation is used. BOE-A-1995-25444
- Art. 245 CP. Punishes with one to two years in prison the occupation of property using violence or intimidation against persons, and with a three to six month fine the occupation without due authorisation of another's property, home or building that is not a dwelling in use. BOE-A-1995-25444
- Art. 795.1.2.ª LECrim. Lists the offences that may follow the fast-track route and includes, since 3 April 2025, unlawful entry into a dwelling under article 202 and unlawful occupation under article 245, provided the case is opened on the basis of a police report. BOE-A-1882-6036
- Art. 250.1.4.º LEC. Sends the summary protection of possession to the juicio verbal and allows immediate recovery of full possession of a home to be sought by the individual owner or lawful possessor, by non-profit entities entitled to possess it and by public social housing bodies. BOE-A-2000-323
- Art. 438.7 LEC. Requires judgment to be given at once if the defendants fail to answer within the statutory period in home recovery cases, and allows a judgment upholding the claim to be enforced on the claimant's application without waiting the twenty-day period of article 548. BOE-A-2000-323
- Art. 5.2 LO 1/2025. Requires, as a general rule, prior resort to an appropriate dispute resolution method, but expressly excepts the summary protection of the holding or possession of a thing or right by someone dispossessed of it or disturbed in its enjoyment. BOE-A-2025-76
Each article checked against the consolidated text published in the BOE (the Spanish official gazette).
Frequently asked questions
Is it true that occupying a home is only a civil matter?
No. Article 245.2 of the Criminal Code punishes with a three to six month fine anyone occupying another's property that is not a dwelling in use without due authorisation, and article 202 punishes with six months to two years in prison entering or remaining in another's dwelling against the occupant's will. There is also the civil route, and the effective course is to open both rather than choose.
What changed in April 2025 for occupation cases?
Organic Act 1/2025 added two new letters to article 795 of the Criminal Procedure Act with effect from 3 April 2025: unlawful entry into a dwelling under article 202 and unlawful occupation under article 245. Both offences may therefore follow the fast-track route, provided the case is opened on the basis of a police report on the terms set by that article.
Do I have to try to negotiate with the occupiers before filing?
Not for this action. Article 5.2 of Organic Act 1/2025 excepts from the prior dispute resolution requirement the summary protection of the holding or possession of a thing by someone who has been dispossessed of it. The claim to recover the home can be filed as soon as whoever is inside is identified and the title is documented.
How long do I have to bring the civil action?
The summary possessory action lapses one year after the dispossession, and that lapse is not interrupted by out-of-court demands. If the year has gone by, the case is not closed, but it must be redirected through a slower declaratory route in which the right to possess is argued and not merely the fact of possession.
What if the occupiers do not answer the claim?
It works in your favour. Article 438.7 of the Civil Procedure Act provides that, in cases of recovery of possession of a home, if the defendants fail to answer within the statutory period judgment is given at once, and it may be enforced on the claimant's application without waiting for the twenty-day period of article 548.
This guide explains how the action works in general. It does not replace the study of your own case: deadlines depend on when things happened and on what you have done since.