Over a Hundred Homes Occupied in Alicante in the Last Eight Months

Local Police in Alicante have recorded 108 calls regarding home occupations in the city since December, as reported this Thursday during the July ordinary plenary session by the Security Councillor, Julio Calero. These alerts have resulted in as many cases, a number far from the mere eight cases in eight months recorded at the anti-occupation office opened by the City Council.

This new municipal service, sponsored by Vox and approved by the Popular Party, is responsible for advising and informing homeowners if they suffer an illegal occupation. The consultations registered directly have been eight since its inauguration last December, averaging one per month. With these figures, the PSOE has questioned the government team in the plenary session about whether this office will remain open.

The socialists argue that the anti-occupation office was opened as a pretext "to avoid discussing the real issue of housing access in Alicante." The fact that it was a specific request from Vox to support the municipal budgets has led the socialist municipal spokesperson, Ana Barceló, to label the service as "ideological."

However, the services at the anti-occupation office are only part of the reality, not the whole. The 108 calls made to the Local Police, "and I do not doubt more will come," according to Calero, put this issue in another dimension. Hence, the popular government team refuses to close the service.

Moreover, the Local Police of Alicante will receive specific training on occupation of homes by the Ministry of Interior and Emergencies, as informed by the Security Councillor. This course offers Local Police officers "legal and operational tools to act effectively against illegal home occupation and trespassing," according to the regional administration. The Local Police of Valencia was the first to be trained in this area.

This course addresses aspects such as the legal elements defining usurpation and trespassing, as well as the factors that differentiate these crimes from the perspective of the protected legal interest, home inviolability, and the concept of dwelling, including second homes. The training also analyses the figures of legitimate defence and state of necessity, criminal contests, the permanent nature of certain crimes, and criminal flagrancy.