Brits arrive at Ibiza holiday home to find squatters have changed locks and are selling possessions

An experienced attorney for the Public Prosecutor’s Office has revealed that he and his wife are trying to evict squatters from their Spanish holiday home after arriving with their children for a sunny break only to find another family and other strangers inside.

Marc Robinson, head of the CPS extradition unit, is involved in a legal battle in Ibiza to get the holiday home back after flying to Ibiza over the Easter holidays to discover the locks had been changed, Spanish outlet The Objective unveiled today.

The Robinsons flew their daughters to the Spanish island on April 4 and found the lights were on and someone was home on their property in the community of San Antonio, the publication reported.

The couple called police who spoke inside with a man who allegedly admitted to squatting there with his wife and two children because he had “nowhere else to live.”

Mrs Robinson told The Objective: ‘It appears they have sold our assets. We are sure that an expensive bicycle that we had at home is no longer there.

“When we finally get access, we’ll have to see if we end up accusing them of theft or criminal damage.”

A friendly neighbor reportedly told the Robinsons that they saw at least four more men in the yard when the officers left.

Mr Robinson’s wife, Sophie, told The Objective they are still trying to get their property back almost a month later after filing two separate complaints with a local court.

One of them is a lawsuit against the squatters of which she said the publication has not even been allowed for processing yet.

Ms Robinson added: ‘The police report has not yet reached the court and preliminary proceedings to evict them from our house have still not been opened.

“The Guardia Civil told us they couldn’t do anything because when they arrived there was only a man, a woman and two children that they couldn’t evict without a court order because they say they are a family and have no family. live somewhere else.

“But we know there are more people in the house and it should be easy for the police to prove it.

“We don’t understand how it is possible that there is a legal vacuum when it comes to squatters in Spain.”

She revealed that the couple had contacted a private ‘squatter eviction company’ to try and resolve the situation, adding: ‘They are in Ibiza talking to the people who took over our house.

We want them to leave as soon as possible.

Mr. Robinson, who studied history at the London School of Economics and Political Science before studying law at Chester, was a trainee lawyer in London and Hong Kong before becoming a university lecturer in law and joining the CPS in March 2004.

He describes online how he “cut his teeth prosecuting at Bow Street Magistrates’ Court and the West London Youth Court” while managing Crown Court cases and graduating to prosecute kidnapping and serious money laundering cases.

In 2008, he transferred to the Old Bailey’s homicide squad.

In later years, before taking up his current position as Head of Unit in the CPS Extradition Unit, he worked as a UK Liaison Magistrate in Spain and assisted the Spanish Ministry of Justice in establishing the Spanish Asset Recovery Office.

The story is the latest in a series of similar tales of people returning home to Spain to find their property has been taken over by squatters.

In July 2020, a British family had to cancel their holiday after squatters broke into their luxury home in Javea north of Benidorm and occupied it illegally.

A housekeeper found the locks broken on the five-bedroom property and strangers’ clothes hanging on a washing line as she went to prepare the villa for the arrival of the British.

The owners eventually paid the squatters ten nights in a hostel to get rid of them.

Spain is known for being slow to evict squatters, leaving victimized property owners with virtually no protection against the problem.

Courts can take more than a year to resolve cases, and many homeowners end up paying private firms that specialize in dealing with squatters or giving them money to move.

Professional squatters know how to stay in victims’ homes as long as possible and often pay intermediaries to get to vacant properties, including tourist homes.

A Spanish nurse recounted in June 2020 how squatters entered her home in the Catalan town of Vic after she had to move to a nearby town for work and put it up for sale and was unable to come due to the coronavirus lockdown.

Pilar Damian told Spanish TV: ‘I called the real estate agency to ask them to come over and they told me they couldn’t get in.

“They called a locksmith and together with my brother and the police we tried to open the door.

“The squatter showed up while we were doing that, sat down on the couch and said he wasn’t moving.

“The police told us to leave or we could get into trouble, and advised us to file a formal complaint with the court.

“I thought it would go quickly, but a month later my lawyers tell me it could take a year or more.

“The squatter seems to have done this sort of thing before. A week after entering the premises, he had a solicitor on duty and rented broadband internet so that he had an account that would allow him to register himself as resident in the house.

“It is terrible that this is happening to me and thousands of other people all over Spain.

I feel like I have no rights.’

In 2019, British mother Helen France spoke about her difficulty in getting rid of squatters in her holiday home in Alicante, Spain.

She said that after ignoring eviction notices, the tenants threatened to kill her and even wedged a knife in the couch as a warning to her.

The kitchen was left destroyed with holes in the cupboards and pink graffiti spray-painted on the walls and appliances.

Helen’s debt continued to grow after she lost more than £10,000 in unpaid rent, bills and lawyer’s fees.

The Guardia Civil in Ibiza and the local courts have yet to respond to the Robinson case.