Three months after gypsies squatting on a British owned ranch were evicted by the police, an air of calm has returned to the property.In its heyday, El Rancho La Paz in s’Aranjassa, just outside Palma, was the most advanced and complete dressage centre in the Balearics, hosting international competitions and acting as a livery for thoroughbred horses.
However, Marian Porter’s husband, Michael, suddenly passed away two years ago and her life was thrown upside down.
She returned to the UK to be with her elderly mother and daughter, a dressage champion, to come to terms with her loss and during her absence a well know clan of gypsies broke into the 30,000 square metre ranch and began operating its own livery while allowing the three million euro property, into which Marian’s late husband had invested a great deal of money, fall in to rack and ruin.
The squatters claimed that they had a rental agreement, they even provided a document which stated they paid 750 euros a months, but it was false and Marian took legal action. However, the process got bogged down in the courts and out of desperation, she approached the Bulletin and its sister paper Ultima Hora.
Within a week of her story being published, the gypsies were evicted and over the past few months she has been slowly repairing the damage done and restoring the excellent equestrian facilities.