Few people know that before 2015, the offence of unauthorised occupation of a dwelling, property or building that does not constitute a dwelling was a less serious offence. In other words, the law allowed the perpetrators to be arrested.
However, in 2015, during the government of Mariano Rajoy, the Penal Code was reformed and, due to an “unacknowledged” error on the part of the legislator, this crime was downgraded to a misdemeanour. In this case, the police are vetoed the option of arresting the perpetrators of the occupation except in very specific cases. In this way, this crime was downgraded to a procedure that lacks investigation and is unlikely to produce an eviction order from the court given the limited criminal nature of the act.
Subsequently, the socialist government also did not consider modifying the article that led to the downgrading of 13.4 of the Penal Code. That reform downgraded sixteen less serious crimes to minor offences and the legislator has done nothing to modify it.
If instead of being a minor offence it were a less serious offence, the police could act differently and more quickly. The perpetrators could be arrested and the judges would agree on more occasions to evict them from the home, as happens in the crime of breaking and entering, which is when a house where someone lives is occupied, even if it is a second residence or circumstantially not inhabited at the time.
We can create new, complex and time-consuming laws, but in reality, just amending Art. 13.4 of the Penal Code would change a lot of things.
