The existence of squatters in homes in Lanzarote belonging to old tourist complexes is not only limited to Loma Verde, in Puerto del Carmen, whose apartments were evicted last week. In fact, both the mayor of Tías and Teguise recall some similar cases, although they are limited to the fact that these occurred "in the 90s." However, the Teguisol apartments, in Costa Teguise, are also suffering from this problem currently and, according to some neighbors, it is being aggravated since the eviction in Loma Verde occurred. "In the last week, this has been an avalanche," they say.
The Teguisol apartments belong to an old tourist complex in Costa Teguise. Of the 250 homes that make it up, about 50 have their own owners. Of these, only two reside in Teguisol. The rest have their homes rented, since "they live outside," explains Pablo Barcos, who acquired a home in this complex 15 years ago, when it functioned as tourist accommodation. The remaining 200 apartments are owned by Solvasa, a company that operated these tourist apartments.
However, despite the fact that the company continues to advertise this accommodation in the reservations section of its website, the truth is that, according to Pablo Barcos, "they abandoned them two years ago." "They emptied the pools overnight, closed the reception and disappeared without saying anything," says this neighbor.
This fact led, according to some neighbors, to some of these homes being illegally occupied by several people. A fact that, according to them, has increased in the last week, just at the time when the eviction of 44 homes from the old tourist complex of Loma Verde, in Puerto del Carmen, took place. "I think they have left there and are coming here," they say.
"Avalanche" of squatters
Both Pablo and another of the owners of one of the homes, Olga Tavío, assure that before there were "one or two squatters who came and went" but, in recent days, the Teguisol apartments have witnessed "an avalanche" of people who are occupying the houses. "You already hear a noise and you are looking to see where they are entering," explains Pablo's wife, Margarita Serrano.
This situation is generating fear among the owners and tenants of the homes, who do not even want to leave their homes empty for a moment, for fear that the squatters will sneak in. And, as Margarita explains, "there are tenants who have found people trying to open their door with a drill, even being inside."
"They have even called at my door and when they have seen that there were people inside, they have left saying that they were wrong. Here they find fully furnished apartments, with their kitchen, their appliances, their water, their electricity... And they don't come to just any apartment, because if someone is in a hurry and sees themselves with the children on the street, I understand it, but for them to knock on your door and tell you that they want an apartment with a solarium, well, that's too much. It's too cheeky," says Margarita, who says that, given this situation, they have even considered leaving there.
Thefts and vandalism
The owners also say that small thefts are occurring in the apartments. "They are taking the televisions, the microwaves...?" In fact, according to them, the Civil Guard is there "almost every day." "They come, identify the people and talk to them and tell them that they cannot be here, but if the owner does not report it, they cannot do anything else," says Pablo Barcos.
In addition to the people who are occupying the homes, the owners say that there are also young people who use the apartments to "throw their parties" on weekends and commit acts of vandalism in them. "They come and destroy everything. They broke everything in the reception and the disco. The televisions, the pool tables...?" says this owner.
Pablo says that they have also received threats from these kids on multiple occasions. "They threaten to harm the dog and we are afraid that they will poison it."
Complaint for abandonment
The 50 people who own apartments in the Teguisol apartments even reported Solvasa "for abandonment of the facilities." However, according to Pablo, the owner has been "untraceable." According to him, the owner only appeared two months ago at a meeting of neighbors, as he is the president of the community. And it was precisely there, where "a judicial secretary served him with the complaint."
The abandonment of the facilities by the company has also left the owners with problems when it comes to maintaining them, since, according to them, Solvasa is not paying the community fees for the 200 apartments it owns. "Here there are no meters per house, but only one common one and on top of that we pay at the tourist rate, so the bills reach 3,000 euros. And now, in addition, we have to pay for the water and electricity for those who get into the homes," says this neighbor.
This has caused the common facilities to be practically abandoned and it is not possible to hire security personnel "to prevent people from entering the empty homes."
The occupied homes, for sale
The real estate agency Asor-Estate of Costa Teguise has confirmed to La Voz that the company that owns the complex has already put the 200 apartments it owns up for sale. "We have been working on it for a few weeks, so that it works again as a beautiful complex, as it was in its day."
In this sense, according to what they have explained from the real estate agency, a security guard has been hired who is "already working" in the complex and is proceeding to carry out "cleaning and repair tasks." "In two weeks, we hope to open the reception again and start selling the apartments," said a real estate agent from Asor-Estate, who assures that some apartments "have already been sold."
Regarding the issue of squatters, the real estate agency assures that the owner of the homes has already filed complaints for the apartments that are illegally occupied, so that the Police can act.
The real estate agency Asor-Estate has stated that they have been "fighting for a year" to improve this complex, since, according to them, they are in charge of managing about 15 apartments belonging to private owners. "We are working to make it move forward, because it is one of the most beautiful complexes in Costa Teguise. All it needs is for someone to care about it and raise it again," concludes the real estate agent.
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