My flat is empty and I am afraid of squatters

Short answer: an empty flat is by far the highest-risk scenario for squatting, and the only one where the landlord has no cover at all, because there is no tenancy to guarantee. There are two real answers: a standalone legal-defence product for empty properties — rates start around €120 a year per property — or, better, stop leaving it empty. A flat occupied by legitimate tenants is, by definition, far harder to squat.

Why an empty flat is the worst case

The three covers that protect a landlord — the rent guarantee, the tenancy legal defence and the vandalism compensation — all hang off a live tenancy agreement. With no contract there is no rent to guarantee and no guarantee to issue.

And it is the most exposed property there is:

• Nobody notices an entry until after the fact.
• The signs are visible from the street: a full letterbox, blinds permanently down, no lights at night.
• A property for sale is advertised with interior photos, an approximate address and the implicit message that it is unoccupied.

In Spain the moment that matters is the beginning: the fast route against a fresh occupation depends on acting within hours, not weeks.

Option 1: legal defence for empty properties

• Empty, disused or for-sale properties: lawyers, court agents, professional mediators and unlimited telephone legal advice, with all legal steps handled for you.
• Second homes: the beach flat, the house in the village or the mountains, closed for months at a time.
• Holiday and tourist lets: legal conflicts arising from the letting and from illegal occupation, which the primary-residence rent guarantee expressly excludes.

The reference rate is around €120 a year per property. Against what a self-funded eviction costs, this is the easy decision in this article.

Be clear what it is: legal defence, not damage cover. It gives you the legal team and handles the process. It does not pay a rent that does not exist, nor repair damage.

Option 2: stop it being empty

Almost nobody raises this one, and it is the only one that removes the risk instead of managing it.

A flat with tenants has someone living there, coming and going, collecting the post and raising the alarm. Squatting needs an unoccupied property; that is its whole mechanism. On top of that, a let flat:

• Generates income instead of consuming it in council tax, service charges and standing utility costs.
• Can carry a rent guarantee, which exists only where there is a contract.
• Stays maintained: faults are found when they happen, not six months later.

The usual objection is «it is empty because I am afraid of letting someone in». It is understandable, and it is exactly backwards: the empty property is the one with no protection at all. Tenant risk can be assessed, guaranteed and insured. Empty-property risk cannot.

If it is on the market

• A serious door and lock. A security lock, and a temporary anti-squat door where the area warrants it, costs far less than proceedings.
• Make it look lived in. Empty the letterbox, vary the blinds, use a light timer. It sounds homespun because it is, and it works.
• Someone passing by. A documented weekly visit, even by the agency. The first 48 hours are the only thing that decides whether recovery is fast or slow.

And the alternative worth costing before dismissing it: letting it while it sells, or switching it to room-by-room letting, which fills it faster and keeps it permanently occupied.

Frequently asked questions

Does the rent guarantee cover squatting of an empty flat?

No. The rental guarantee protects a live tenancy; its squatting protection extends three months beyond its end. An empty property needs the standalone legal defence.

What about a second home I use in summer?

That falls under the second-homes option: it covers the closed months, with full legal defence and unlimited telephone advice.

Does it cover holiday lets?

The primary-residence rent guarantee expressly excludes seasonal and tourist contracts. Those are served by the standalone legal defence and a separate temporary guarantee.

How long does an eviction take?

Entirely dependent on when you act. Immediate action resolves in days; ordinary court proceedings are measured in months, and in some districts over a year. What matters is not the cover but the speed of reaction.

Reference rates and covers taken from SEAG's legal-defence documentation and the General Conditions of its Rental Guarantee (version V20251003). Court timescales vary by judicial district and do not depend on the guarantee.