Residents of the El Mero building in Sabinillas have reported the «insecurity» they are suffering because of the squatting of several properties belonging to an «investment fund», and are asking for «help from those in government» with «more police presence».
A resident who has preferred to remain anonymous referred to the «problems of coexistence» in the building, stating that «15% of the homes» are occupied by people who «tap into the electricity or water supply» or do not pay the community fees.
He explained that the building has «97 homes», of which «about 15 are squatted» because they belong to the investment fund. This situation has existed for «about 5 years with people who lived alongside us», but in the last 2 years «the profile» of the squatter has changed and they are now «dangerous people» because of alleged «small-scale drug dealing».
The resident said this has created «insecurity» among residents, claiming that they «tamper with the supply meters» for electricity or water, which may pose «a risk». «They live with their doors open and with dogs loose», leading to an «unsustainable situation», he lamented, adding that the area has become «a hostile territory».
He went on to say that «we live in fear, although we do not confront them either», with situations such as an attempt to «get in through the roof of a neighbour’s house» in order to squat a property, since «they pass on information about empty homes among themselves».
He has therefore asked for «help from those in government» with «more police presence», while also criticising the fact that children live «in houses where drugs are consumed», and claiming that the owners’ children suffer «threats» from teenagers.
The man highlighted the «ordeal» he has experienced since buying his home 15 years ago. The builder was Rafael Gómez, from Córdoba, better known as Sandokán, who after Operation Malaya came to light «left the building with debts to suppliers and paid with flats», and many of the homes came to belong to «entities that were not natural persons and did not take care of maintaining the building».
In this regard, he said that «the Arenal 2000 flats were bought by an investment fund», estimating that it owns «about 15 or 16 homes», while «the rest are divided between people who live here all year round», other neighbours who use their properties as holiday homes, and tenants.
Another resident said they are «dangerous people with whom coexistence is impossible, breaking things, making everything dirty and dealing». He added that the squatters «are already trying to get into homes» that are used by their owners during holiday periods and are therefore «empty», and that «they have even tried to get in despite alarms because they can disconnect them», recounting that a neighbour «was threatened so that they could get in through his terrace» in order to squat a house.
He is therefore calling for more police presence, and has suggested that the Town Hall could «step in ex officio in the courts to evict the squatters».
For his part, the mayor of Manilva, Mario Jiménez, said that the Town Hall has been «working for more than 3 months with the community of owners and the administrators to find a solution», stressing that «the flats that are squatted belong to investment funds that do not report the occupation», which makes it very difficult for these families to be evicted.
Jiménez stressed that the squatters «are not complying with the basic rules of the community or of society», describing the problem as «serious», and emphasised «the Town Hall’s support for the residents», adding that it has «brought the case to the attention of the Guardia Civil».
