Is Buying Property in Spain Risky? And How Do You Pick a Good Avocado?

It’s been exactly a year since I travelled to Spain to look at properties as potential investments. Quite a lot has changed since then. The pandemic put our first purchase on hold and, to be honest, I’m starting to wonder whether it’s worth carrying on with the whole thing.

What happened in 2020, with the lockdowns and borders suddenly closing, completely caught me off guard. I still can’t quite get my head around how much our lives changed in such a short space of time.

I’d love to be sitting here a year later, sharing the figures from a successful property investment. Unfortunately, we haven’t even properly got started. So here’s a quick update on where things stand.

If you haven’t read my original post about visiting Spain to look at properties, you can find it here:

Is It Worth Buying a Rental Property in Spain?

We found a flat that looked promising and seemed like a good opportunity to get some hands-on experience of investing in Spanish property. Just before the pandemic hit, we managed to reserve it and pay the initial deposit.

And we didn’t exactly choose the easiest route. Rather than buying it outright with cash, we decided to get a mortgage.

Can You Get a Spanish Mortgage Based on Income Earned in Poland?

The whole point of this investment wasn’t just to make money. We also wanted to learn as much as possible along the way.

That’s why we decided to finance the purchase with a mortgage, even though the property itself wasn’t particularly expensive.

And guess what? We actually got mortgage approval from a Spanish bank!

What’s more, the terms were exactly in line with what I’d described in my previous article about Spain.

We managed all this during the pandemic, with most of the paperwork handled by email.

So we’ve now confirmed from personal experience that Spanish banks do take Polish income into account when assessing mortgage applications. In our case, the income was documented through Polish tax returns (PIT), without either of us needing to be employed on a standard employment contract.

In other words, yes, you really can get a mortgage in Spain based on income earned in Poland. 😀

The next step would be to finalise the mortgage and take possession of the flat.

But as I mentioned earlier, we’ve lost quite a bit of our initial enthusiasm. We’re seriously wondering whether we should go ahead with the investment at all.

The biggest problem is travelling to and from Spain. At the moment, it’s a real logistical headache. And frankly, I don’t think any of us particularly fancies jumping through all those hoops for what is, after all, a fairly small investment.

So we’ve got a decision to make. Do we carry on, or do we call it a day?

What would you do in our position? Any suggestions?

And would you actually be interested in reading more about how we get on with our Spanish flat?

Over the past year, I’ve also spent quite a bit of time learning about the realities of doing business and investing in property in Spain.

My impression so far? Running a business there seems rather complicated. Add the language barrier into the mix and it certainly feels a lot harder than doing business in Poland.

Who Are the Okupas in Spain?

Naturally, I’ve also come across the issue of los okupas — people who occupy properties without the owner’s permission.

You may have heard about the so-called “48-hour rule”. It’s often mentioned when people talk about squatting in Spain, but it’s not actually a legal deadline after which an occupation suddenly becomes lawful or the police automatically lose the power to intervene.

What matters is the type of property involved, the circumstances of the occupation and which legal procedure applies.

Spanish prosecutors can also request interim court measures, so dealing with squatters doesn’t necessarily mean waiting until the very end of a civil court case.

One particularly striking example of the difficulties property owners can face is the story of Manuel, a man from Mataró, near Barcelona, who spent years trying to get his own home back.

His story was covered by the Spanish newspaper La Vanguardia:

Read Manuel’s story in La Vanguardia

More than six years earlier, Manuel’s house had been occupied by squatters, and he couldn’t get rid of them.

Despite years of legal battles, he still hadn’t managed to recover his property.

Under Spanish law, removing people who are unlawfully occupying a property can require court proceedings. In Manuel’s case, despite all his efforts, he hadn’t managed to obtain the court ruling he needed to get his home back.

Then, finally, he got a lucky break.

He discovered on social media that the people occupying his house had gone on holiday to Ibiza.

So he decided to take matters into his own hands.

After making sure the house was empty, he forced his way through the door and moved back in — rather like the okupashad done in the first place.

“There was nobody there, so I went in just like they did,” Manuel explained.

What he found inside was an absolute state. Dirt everywhere, terrible mess and the house in dreadful condition.

You can see the photos here:

Photos of the damage inside Manuel’s house — ABC

The squatters had apparently made themselves so comfortable in Manuel’s house that they’d even installed a burglar alarm — something Manuel himself had never had!

And here’s the really bizarre part.

Although Manuel had simply taken back his own property, using much the same method as the squatters, he could potentially face criminal charges for forcing his way in.

Which raises an interesting question.

If Manuel hadn’t been the owner, could he have stayed there after 48 hours, supposedly enjoying the same protection people often claim squatters have — even though the previous occupants were themselves living there illegally? 😀

Of course, this story doesn’t mean property owners have the right to forcibly remove occupants themselves or change the locks whenever they feel like it.

Nor would I compare Poland and Spain on the basis of some supposedly fixed 48-hour rule.

Before buying property in Spain, it’s worth understanding the procedures that apply to your particular situation. And if somebody occupies your property unlawfully, reporting it to the relevant authorities as quickly as possible is important.

Statistics on reported illegal occupations can provide some useful context. But the proportion of reported cases compared with the total housing stock doesn’t tell you the probability of your particular property being occupied.

That risk depends on several things, including the location, how the property is used, its security arrangements and how quickly someone can respond if there’s a problem.

I suspect cases like this are extremely rare in Poland, although I haven’t managed to find any reliable statistics to back that up.

What do you think about the okupas situation in Spain? Had you heard about it before?

How Do You Find Really Good Avocados?

Now for something completely different. Although, believe it or not, it still has something to do with Spain.

Since October, I’ve been avoiding carbohydrates.

I’m not going to get into the details of my diet here, but one thing I’ve discovered is that avocados come in very handy when you’re trying to cut out carbs.

The question is, where do you get really good ones?

Obviously, you can pop down to your local supermarket. In Poland, that usually means somewhere like Biedronka or Lidl.

But did you know you can also order avocados directly from the grower?

And not just any grower, but an organic farm in Spain.

Yes, really. And I’ve tried it myself, so I know it works.

I ordered mine through this website:

CrowdFarming — La Reala Avocado Farm

The idea behind CrowdFarming is pretty straightforward. It helps farmers sell their produce directly to the people who actually eat it.

People like me, who are more than happy to demolish a few avocados but also want them to be as fresh and tasty as possible. 🙂

By cutting out some of the middlemen and avoiding the strict commercial rules imposed by large supermarket chains, farmers can sell directly to customers online.

And the surprising thing is that the prices can be comparable to what you’d pay in a supermarket.

Not bad at all!

Avocados aren’t the only thing you can buy there, either. They also offer oranges, coffee beans, mandarins, almonds, cheese, pistachios, olive oil, seaweed and plenty of other products.

Apparently, much of it is produced using environmentally friendly farming methods.

Personally, I’ve only ordered avocados so far.

At the time of writing, the Hass variety is available to order until April.

And how did the delivery go?

Pretty well, actually.

My avocados arrived on exactly the date promised when I placed the order. Full marks for that.

I ordered them on a Sunday and they arrived the following Monday, just over a week later.

Following the instructions included in the box, I left them to ripen for three days.

And the result?

Really good avocados. Full of flavour, slightly salty, and absolutely perfect for salads or homemade guacamole.

I have a feeling I’ll be placing another order very soon. 😉

Anyway, let me know what you think about the things I’ve covered in today’s post.

And while you’re at it, help us make up our minds about that flat in Spain. Should we go ahead with the purchase or walk away? 🙂

Have a great weekend!