Property owner and brother-in-law given suspended prison sentences for entering own rented flat

Under Spanish law, an individual's home is inviolable, and entering or remaining on leased property without tenant authorisation constitutes the crime of trespass - regardless of whether the intruder is a stranger or the legal property owner.

The Provincial Court of Valencia has delivered a reminder of this constitutional principle by sentencing a 45-year-old property owner and her brother-in-law to a suspended sentence of six months and one day in prison each for unlawfully occupying a residential flat in Valencia while a valid tenancy agreement was still in force.

The incident was not triggered by unpaid rent or squatting disputes. Rather, the Ecuadorian landlord sought to reclaim immediate physical use of her property after returning to Spain from her native country, bypassing legal procedures to terminate an active lease managed through a local estate agency.

The incident occurred on the afternoon of 29 February 2024. When the legitimate tenant returned home from work, he discovered the landlady and her brother-in-law inside the property, casually cooking food found in the kitchen and unloading large suitcases and personal items to re-establish residence.

The landlady had previously arranged for one co-tenant to surrender his lease and return his set of keys in exchange for his deposit refund. However, the second tenant, represented by solicitor Lluís Ballester, had legally moved into the flat on 6 February 2024 after paying his deposit and first month's rent. Although formal contract signing had been deferred until mid-March to coincide with the owner's planned return, the landlady had been informed via WhatsApp and had accepted the rent transfer.

Upon finding the intruders, the tenant contacted the estate agent, who summoned National Police officers to the scene. Despite police intervention, both defendants refused to vacate the premises, with the owner declaring to officers, "I am not leaving here, arrest me if you want." Police proceeded to detain both individuals on the spot.

Neither defendant had prior criminal records. Following a pre-trial plea agreement between the prosecution, private prosecution, and defence counsel, both defendants formally admitted to the facts at the Provincial Court of Valencia.

The court handed down suspended sentences of six months and one day for trespass used as a means to commit coercion (coacciones), reducing original prosecution demands that ranged from 18 months to two and a half years.

Under the terms of the in voce sentence pronounced by the presiding judge, the execution of the custodial sentences has been suspended on the condition that neither individual commits another offence over a two-year period.