The PP has proposed a law intended to remove alleged illegal occupants from properties within 48 hours if it enters Spain’s national government after the elections scheduled for 29th November, despite judicial and police data showing that housing-squatting cases have fallen in Catalonia.

For residents of Badalona and elsewhere in Catalonia, the proposal does not currently change eviction procedures or create a new 48-hour removal rule. The bill’s detailed wording has not yet been published, and the proposal would require parliamentary approval before it could take effect.

PP leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo has said Badalona mayor Xavier García Albiol would lead the planned legislation. Albiol, who is expected to head the party’s Barcelona list, has said he would remain mayor if elected to Spain’s Congress, subject to authorisation by the PP executive.

“You will do it. Zero tolerance for illegal squatting and expulsion within 48 hours.”Alberto Núñez Feijóo, speaking to Xavier García Albiol at a PP rally in Barcelona

Judicial proceedings have declined in Catalonia

Figures compiled from the General Council of the Judiciary, Spain’s governing body for the courts, show 1,004 civil proceedings involving the occupation of homes in Catalonia in 2019. During the first half of 2026, there were 177 such proceedings, a 16% reduction on the same period in 2025, according to NacióDigital’s analysis of the court data.

The source uses the political and cultural term “Catalan Countries” for Catalonia, the Balearic Islands and another Catalan-speaking territory. Across those areas, the analysis reports a 60% reduction over six years when comparing the 2019–2021 peak with figures for 2025 and the first half of 2026.

The Balearic Islands recorded 192 proceedings in 2019. Annual totals then ranged from 107 to 118 between 2022 and 2025, while the first six months of 2026 recorded 48 cases.

  • Catalonia recorded 1,004 civil squatting proceedings in 2019.
  • Catalonia recorded 177 proceedings in the first half of 2026.
  • The first-half 2026 total was 16% lower than in the equivalent period of 2025.
  • The Balearic Islands recorded 48 proceedings in the first half of 2026.

Most reports involve vacant homes, the data says

Data attributed to Catalonia’s Department of the Interior indicates that 96% of reported squatting involves empty or vacant homes rather than an occupied main or second home. About 80% of cases are concentrated in homes owned by large holders, including banks, investment funds and property companies.

Under Spanish criminal law, the occupation of an unoccupied property is generally classified as usurpation. It is distinct from an unlawful entry into a home that is occupied by its resident.

Mossos d’Esquadra, Catalonia’s regional police force, recorded 7,110 reports related to property occupation in 2025, according to the figures cited by NacióDigital. The report states that 96% concerned vacant homes, while reported invasions of occupied homes accounted for 4%.

Albiol described the task as a way of addressing what he called residents’ “real problems”, including security and illegal squatting. If the PP presents legislation, residents affected by an occupation case would still need to follow the current police and court routes unless and until a new law is approved.

Reported by naciodigital.cat, NacióDigital.