New Supreme Court ruling on squatters

Raymundo Larraín Nesbitt, August, 3. 2026

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By Raymundo Larraín Nesbitt
Director of Larraín Nesbitt Abogados
1^st of August 2026

Introduction

Spain’s Supreme Court delivered a landmark ruling last June against squatters.

Up until now, it was regarded as a criminal offence to shut off the utilities of your home if you had squatters living inside. This was regarded as a coercion offence, which is punishable with jail time. An owner who did this, would be reported to the police by his squatters and promptly remanded into custody awaiting trial.

This new ruling, which sets jurisprudence, marks an inflection point and bolsters private property at a time where it is openly besieged by the Spanish government.

STS 426, of the 24^th June 2026

The ruling now makes it legal for a property owner to shut off the utilities in the event of squatters.

However, it should be noted there are nuances at play which need to be addressed. There are still a large number of cases which will land you in jail if you follow this. The Supreme Court makes two clear distinctions:

Occupant has no legal title to be in the property
Occupant has a just title to dwell in the property

Depending on which case above applies, an owner may, or may not, shut off the utilities:

General rule going forward: A property owner may now shut off the utilities (water, electricity, gas) if the occupant has no legal title to live in the property i.e. squatters
Exceptions to the general rule: An owner may not shut off the utilities if the occupant of the property has a just legal title to occupy it. Examples:

Tenant who has a valid lease agreement (verbal or written). Regardless of whether the tenant is paying - or not - the rental, it is unlawful to shut off the utilities.
A partner (wife, husband) who lives in the property. The exception even applies in the event of separation or divorce proceedings underway.

ProTip: Before making a rash decision, owners are strongly advised to seek advice from a lawyer before shutting off utilities.

Conclusion

Ironically, despite squatting being rife all over Spain, particularly in the region of Catalonia, this ruling is a result of a Family Law case. A divorce was instigated, and the ex-husband shut off the utilities of the family home six months after the divorce to coerce his ex-wife.

The incumbent Spanish administration purposely undermines property rights and favours squatters. This being done mostly for calculated political gain besides ideological reasons. As explained in several articles, the Spanish government adopts lofty social policies at the expense of people’s private property. For it is private owners, not the government, who are picking the tab of the government’s misguided housing and rental policies. The gist of the problem is that the government refuses to build more homes, despite a record deficit of 750,000 homes, and keeps piling more pressure on both the rental and resale property market by purposely stifling supply.

As a result of the ruling administration pursuing these ill-advised housing and rental initiatives, property supply is drying out in Spain whilst demand (both domestic and foreign) remains strong. This reckless course of action can only lead up to a sharp increase of property and rental prices nationwide over the next years.

If to this, you add an irresponsible open arms migrant policy, whereby the government actively goes out of its way to bring in millions of new people, in a short space of time, it’s an accident waiting to happen. Spain’s infrastructures – of all kinds – are calculated for a population of 40 million, not 55 million. A price will be paid for adopting short-sighted rash populist social policies and not planning ahead carefully. Spanish politicians would do well to put ahead the country’s best interests in lieu of being self-serving.

This new ruling brings much needed common sense back into the real estate market and bolsters and reinforces the rights of owners against squatters. Make no mistake, the squatter movement are mostly run by professional mafias who have turned illegal property occupation into a lucrative business from which many people profit at the expense of private owners’ rights.

Whilst this ruling may sound as perfectly logical and fair abroad, in Spain there is an ongoing war to defend the rights of squatters (sic) and undermine those of property owners abetted by the Spanish government, out of all people, no less. The world upside down.

Spain is different.

“If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.” – Benjamin Franklin.

Founding Father of the United States. Exceptionally gifted scientist, inventor, diplomat, writer, printer, postmaster and political theorist. Even politician in his spare time; nobody’s perfect.

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