In March this year, the French-Belgian owners of a guest house on their property in Sencelles offered a Spanish woman free accommodation in the house in exchange for help with looking after the couple's two daughters.
The woman asked if her partner could move in and do gardening and maintenance work. The couple agreed to this. Two months later, the work stopped. The Spanish couple no longer wanted to do anything and they had no intention of leaving the guest house. They were squatters in the guest house.
Unsurprisingly, relations between the two couples deteriorated. V. says that she is aware that she offered the house to them. "But I never thought that they were violent people with bad intentions. That wasn't how they were at the beginning."
Since May, the owners have been insulted and have been threatened. Things became so bad that they couldn't use the gardens, pool or terrace. In August, a restraining order was requested. This was after they were threatened with a hammer. Medical reports and complaints have been lodged with the Guardia Civil. V. has suffered from anxiety attacks.
The owners have moved into an apartment in Palma, as life at their property in Sencelles has been made impossible. V. adds: "I don't understand what else has to happen for the justice and authorities to protect children and a family." The request for the restraining order has yet to receive a response from the courts in Inca.
"My husband bought this finca 15 years ago when it was almost a ruin. He has done a great deal to develop it but now we have had to leave because of threats."
The police have been called on various occasions, once when the squatters tried to break the security cameras. The mayor of Sencelles, Joan Carles Verd, confirms that the police have gone whenever they have been requested. But he explains: "The town hall, the police, the Guardia Civil can do nothing if a judge doesn't order it. And it can take two or three years for an eviction."