Norwegian family get their home back but squatting nightmare isn't over yet

However, when they can next make the trip, they will be required to take stock of the damage that has been caused to the property, built by their parents at the end of the 1960s.

"It's been completely destroyed," said Eduardo López-Chicheri, the family's lawyer, who went inside accompanied by the police, after receiving the news that the squatters had left.

"In furniture alone, they've stolen more than two thousand euros' worth, but they've also destroyed doors, wardrobes and partition walls, and taken the bathroom fittings," he said.

The lawyer explained that the court in Vélez-Málaga, which had been handling the case, has been informed that the family would be officially reporting the squatters, who had been identified by police during a visit this year, for the damages and theft.