01-05-2025
Tenerife chaos as 200 squatters win battle to camp out in huge abandoned hotel
Squatters who have been occupying the Callao Sport Hotel in Tenerife since the middle of February won't be evicted anytime soon following unsuccessful legal proceedings brought by its owner
Squatters have taken over a hotel in Spain and are now illegally subletting it, according to the enraged owners.
Since February 17 as many as 200 people have been living in the Callao Sport Hotel in Tenerife. The hotel, which is located in one of the most prosperous tourists area of the Canary island, has 92 rooms and luxury facilities which have been occupied ahead of the high holiday season.
All rooms in the hotel are now illegally occupied, Canarian Weekly reported, with people living in the reception, gym, kitchens and spa massage cabins. Neighbours have complained about noise from the hotel, which has been badly damaged by the newcomers.
The reception area has been reported as being ransacked, while the owners claim they're being slapped with utility bills that have tripled since the occupation began. Those owners have now suffered a major judicial setback, with a court rejecting their request to have the squatters immediately evicted.
Carmen Margarita, the sole administrator of the company that owns the hotel, shared her frustration in a radio interview. 'This is not just squatting, it's a criminal operation. People are making money from leasing out what is not theirs, and nothing is being done to stop them," she claimed. "People come and go all the time. Just the other day, a couple showed up in a Mercedes A-Class. This isn't about vulnerable people in need of shelter, this is systematic exploitation.'
Local reports suggest that at least 50 rooms were initially occupied, but this figure doubled to 100 in just a fortnight, and now reportedly stands at 200. There have also been complaints about disturbances such as noise, lights being left on all night, and a rising sense of insecurity in the area, with some suspecting criminal networks are cashing in on the situation.
One worried resident, Pedro, voiced his concerns on COPE Radio in Tenerife. Pedro revealed that there have been numerous reports of theft in the area, with looters targeting the complex and dismantling furniture and materials to sell online. According to Pedro, the authorities have intervened multiple times due to the theft of objects and machinery from the hotel, and it's alleged that three individuals are leading these illicit activities, including charging for room usage.
Residents have expressed their unease and frustration with the situation, stating that "the Guardia Civil have done nothing". This incident is the latest in a series of squatting incidents in hotels.
Earlier this year a group of squatters took over a former hotel building in Majorca, vowing not to leave. The BelleVue resort in Alcudia, Spain, which dates back to the early 1970s, is a thriving holiday village with 17 blocks of over 1,400 apartments and studios. However, one of the buildings has been overrun by squatters ahead of its planned reopening to tourists later this year.
Around 50 people are believed to have occupied the Neptuno II building, placing padlocks on the apartments they're living in. One squatter told the Majorca Daily Bulletin at the time: "We are not here for fun. We are here because there are no flats to live in. It is impossible to pay the rents," another added. The squatters have declared their intention to remain in the building until they are forcibly removed.
Meanwhile, back in January, police were on high alert when 30 squatters seized control of a hotel in Cala Bona, allegedly wreaking havoc in the reception area by smashing windows and defacing the walls.
