Four squatters who took over the Artà estate that belonged to Boris Becker have lost their appeal and the eviction order imposed by a Manacor court has been upheld.
The squatters have been charged with usurpation and ordered to pay a find of 480 euros each.
Boris Becker bought the 2,900 square metre Villa Son Coll in the 1990’s. It has four bedrooms with en-suite bathrooms, a tennis court and a basketball court and sits on a 265,000 square metre plot of land.
In 2004, the tennis star was fined 214,000 euros for carrying out illegal work at the villa.
He was declared bankrupt in June 2017 when he was unable to repay a multi-million euro loan and the property ended up in the hands of the bank.
The squatters claimed that their entry to the house was not a crime because the estate was completely abandoned, but the court disagreed.
"It is possible, as the defendants say, that the property does not have light and water services, but what protects the criminal type is the occupation of non-dwelling houses. If it was a second residence in perfect condition and equipped with all the services, we would clearly not be in this type of criminal offence, but in the dwelling raid,” states the ruling. The magistrate, Diego Gómez-Reino, said that the estate being in poor condition doesn’t mean it’s abandoned.
Boris Becker won Wimbledon in 1985 when he was just 17 and went on to win a raft of awards, including six Grand Slams tournaments two Masters Cups, and an Olympic medal in Barcelona 1992.