FLAT OUT
I was kicked out of my flat by my squatter GRANDDAUGHTER… she’s moved in with a friend and changed the locks
A PENSIONER was kicked out of his own flat by a squatter - who is his own granddaughter.
Vicente Moreda, 87, was away visiting his daughter when he was told the tearaway teenager had moved in with a friend and changed the locks.
1
It plunged the family into a year-long legal battle to evict the squatter from Vicente's flat in Madrid.
And it became big news in Spain with TV crews camped outside the apartment building in the city centre, .
“I’m completely devastated,” said Vicente, whose wife is in a nursing home with Alzheimers.
“For this to happen to me at the age of 87 and with all this fuss.”
read more on squatters
He was staying with his daughter Amelia, 51, in southern city Cartagena when he had a call from a neighbour.
They told him: “One of your relatives just went into your house with another girl and a locksmith.”
It turned out to be Amelia's daughter Paula, 18, who he hasn't spoken to for more than a year.
Vicente said: “I have had no news from her since she threatened me with a knife a year ago in Cartagena.
Most read in News
"I don’t understand it. She got mixed up in drugs and all that and now…”
He and his daughter went to police hoping they would help in May 2019.
Amelia said: “We gave the details of the girl and it turns out that we shouldn’t have done that.
“I said that it was my daughter and that it was a forced entry.
“They told me that they would evict her in 48 hours, but now they have told me that there will be a delay because it’s a family member, and we will have to take it to the courts.”
Paula changed the locks and installed an alarm in her grandad's flat, according to reports.
Another adult, a child and three cats were also said to be living there.
She is reportedly refusing to answer her phone or come to the door. One one visit, they heard laughter from inside.
Another time Vicente was filmed on local TV pleading through the locked door accompanied by a negotiator from a company that helps people get their homes back from squatters.
“I have to get in, please open up,” the grandad said. “Paula, why did you come up with this idea?”
Please just stop this craziness. I don’t want to see my granddaughter in jail.
Vicente Moreda
According to her mother, Paula was in a children's home until she left when she turned 18.
Amelia told El Pais: “When she was young she was already showing what was to come.
“She is the middle child and has two brothers. The other two are studying, and they knew that this could happen.
“My ex-husband came with her to Madrid, and in theory, he was with her. Until now.
“A lot of the problems that I had with my ex-husband were due to her.
“How can I get her out of there, how do I do it?”
Vicente, a retired importer, added: “I don’t want to die without having sorted this out.
“Please just stop this craziness.
“I don’t want to see my granddaughter in jail. I have always loved her loads and I used to take her to the park when she was little.”
Almost a year after Paula moved in, a court sided with her and rejected Vicente's application for an eviction order.
"In this country, protecting private property is impossible. We are helpless," Amelia told Libre Mercado in April 2020.
Vicente added: "I can't take it any more. Justice has abandoned us.
"I want to go back home. It drives me crazy."
Later that year another court overturned the bizarre ruling, and Paula was eventually forced to hand back the keys.
She had made her grandad homeless for a year, but was fined just 360 euros, .
READ MORE SUN STORIES
Read More on The Sun
Last week a squad of ex-special forces veterans abseiled down a posh London house to evict squatters.
The private security team were on ropes to stop squatters jumping out the windows as bailiffs stormed in through the front door.
Topics