How big is the squatting risk for a second home?

Tell anyone you are thinking about a house in Spain and you will almost always hear it. Watch out for squatters, or one day you will not get back into your own home. It is the most common reason people give for not going ahead. We looked up the official figures.

The answer: the risk is real, it is small and it is falling. And it depends mostly on something within your control, namely whether your house looks like a home that is in use.

One report per 1,800 homes

Across Spain, 14,875 reports were filed in 2025 for trespass on a dwelling and unlawful occupation of a property. That is 9.4 per cent fewer than in 2024. Spain has more than 26 million homes, so roughly speaking that is one report per 1,800 homes a year. The figure also includes commercial premises and empty buildings.

More important than the national figure is where it happens. Catalonia alone accounts for almost forty per cent of all cases, and it lies outside the nine regions we cover.

Your second home counts as a home

This is where the misunderstanding behind most of the fear lies. In 2020 the Spanish public prosecutor’s office established that a second home remains a dwelling, even in the months when nobody is there, as long as the owner genuinely lives in it from time to time. Anyone who forces their way in therefore commits trespass on a dwelling (allanamiento de morada), the more serious offence, and the police can act quickly as long as they catch it in the act. If it is only discovered days later, it still has to go through the courts.

The lesser offence (usurpación) applies to property without a residential function, such as an empty building or a home that has never been furnished or lived in. That is exactly the scenario in which it can take months. Since 3 April 2025 both offences can be handled under Spain’s fast-track procedure, which requires the hearing to take place within fifteen days. That only applies when there is a police report and the suspect has been arrested or summoned, so it is not automatic.

France and Italy moved the same way

In France the route runs through the prefect, under a procedure that already existed and was tightened in July 2023. The law there is written explicitly to cover second homes: it refers to the home of another person, whether or not it is their main residence. The prefect decides within 48 hours of the request and then gives the occupiers at least 24 hours to leave. If the property is not a home for the owner, that period is seven days. Entering and occupying someone’s home has since been a separate offence in the French criminal code, carrying two years in prison and a €30,000 fine. Letting out someone else’s home without permission carries up to three years and €45,000. The winter ban on evictions does not apply to squatters.

In June 2025 Italy introduced a new offence: anyone who occupies a property that is someone’s home by violence, threats or deception faces two to seven years in prison. An urgent procedure was added too, but note its scope. The police may only evict immediately when the property is the sole actual home of the person reporting it. For a second home it goes through a judge, who can order the property returned at the request of the public prosecutor.

For Portugal, Greece and Cyprus we found no comparable figures or changes in the law. That does not mean it never happens there, only that we cannot say anything about it.

Where the risk really is

Not in the furnished house you use six weeks a year. It is in the house that stands visibly empty for months, with no furniture and nobody calling by. It is in a new build that has not yet been furnished, or an empty property bought purely as an investment: that is where your legal position is weakest. Spanish media also report that organised groups increasingly target empty luxury villas, although there are no hard figures on that.

And there is a risk that rarely features in the stories, yet for an investor it is larger: a tenant who stops paying and stays put. That is not squatting but a tenancy dispute, it goes through the ordinary courts and it takes months. With holiday lets this is far less of an issue than with long-term lets.

What you can do

Make sure you can show it is a home in use: furnish it, put water and electricity in your own name, use it regularly and keep bills and photographs. Have someone keep an eye on it, a property manager or neighbours who know who you are. Install an alarm with a camera and a monitoring centre, because fast discovery matters more than any law. And take out insurance with legal expenses cover that includes squatting; in Spain it is widely available.

How to read this. Reports are not convictions, and not every case is reported. The ratio of one per 1,800 homes is based on more than 26 million homes in Spain; the reports also include commercial premises and empty buildings, so for homes alone the real figure is lower. This article is not legal advice and the rules change quickly: have a local lawyer review any purchase.

Source. 2025 crime statistics from the Spanish Ministry of the Interior. Instrucción 1/2020 of the Spanish public prosecutor’s office on trespass and unlawful occupation. Ley Orgánica 1/2025 for the fast-track procedure. The French law of 27 July 2023. The Italian Decreto Sicurezza, law 80 of 9 June 2025. Published 16 September 2026.