"My strength has come to an end and I already see myself so, so bad, that I only have to keep paying the bank my mortgage and give my house to the squatters." This is the complaint of the owner of one of the houses in the Las Sabinas residential complex, located in Playa Blanca, who claims that they have been suffering robberies, vandalism and even "threats" for years by the people who have moved into the houses that were empty.
The complex is located in the Playa Blanca Partial Plan, declared illegal by the courts, and only a part of the villas were sold. The rest were abandoned and occupied by people who, according to this owner, "steal and harass anyone who approaches" their home.
"What is the reason for all this situation? Is it because the land was not suitable for building, occupancy certificates were not granted, the case was published on television and in the press and the worst of each house came to that residential area to occupy it?", asks this affected person, who has decided to make her complaint public, which she assures is also shared by other neighbors, after filing up to seven complaints already with the Civil Guard.
"Whatever we leave in the house, they steal"
According to her, the robberies are constant and in the last week she has already suffered two. "They have destroyed the alarm of the house on more than two occasions, stolen mattresses, more than 6 televisions, mini stereo, 3 DVDs, hammocks, 2 pool motors... Whatever we leave in the house, they steal", she says.
In her case, she does not reside in the house, since like other buyers of this partial plan, she lives in the peninsula and acquired this property as an investment, having had it rented in several periods. "We don't know what to do, we have thought about going to the house and even if we owe the bank more than 238,000 euros, wall it up. The Civil Guard tells us that they can't do anything, that you can only report it", she laments.
In addition to the robberies she has reported, this owner claims that they have also suffered threats. "The staff who clean the pool and clean the house have been threatened by dogs by the squatters, saying that they are going to kill them", she says. She also claims that they found a person installed inside the house, who "destroyed the house and even changed the lock on the door so that we could not enter".
Bills of up to 700 euros for water
To all this, she also adds that they have suffered "damage to the exterior of the house, such as broken windows and doors", as well as broken streetlights and other elements of the urban furniture of the urbanization.
In addition, she denounces that Canal Gestión Lanzarote has sent them bills of 700 euros "for the difference in the general meter", for the "water used by the squatters" in other homes in the complex. "Either you pay them or they cut off your water", denounces this owner, who assures that they are "suffering so much" that the issue is causing them health problems". "How much longer will this situation continue like this?", she asks.
Like other urbanizations of the Playa Blanca Partial Plan, the Las Sabinas Residential was granted with an illegal license granted by the then mayor of Yaiza. Subsequently, the Plan as a whole was annulled by the courts, leaving in a complicated situation the third parties in good faith who had acquired the homes. Currently, the new General Plan of Yaiza not only covers what has already been built, but even allows new constructions in this plan, which was actually extinct when it began to be developed.
