This is how Desokupa, the company specialized in evicting squatters from homes, works
The Mossos d'Esquadra have deployed a large security device this Thursday in Bonanova Square, in Barcelona, due to the growing tension between the groups of two squatted houses, La Ruïna and El Kubo, and those in favor of their eviction, among them, the company Desokupa. Some protests that are called this afternoon at 7:00 p.m. and in which a tense confrontation is expected.
In this sense, the Desokupa company has called a protest to demand the eviction of these buildings, although its founder, Daniel Esteve, has assured this Wednesday in a video published on social networks that it will not be necessary for his company to evict these houses, as it had provided. But what is Desokupa, when did it emerge and how does it work?
What is Desokupa and how does it work?
Desokupa is a company founded in 2016 that, according to its own website, defines itself as a “specialist in recovering real estate through mediation with squatters, tenants, precarious, neighboring communities, shared flats”. They have their own legal department and, according to the founder, since they began their activity they have carried out more than Since we started in 2016, we have carried out “more than 7,000 successful vacations”.
The company has operating teams throughout the Peninsula, the Balearic Islands and the Canary Islands. “The protocol to follow is always tailored and is decided by consensus of the different experts, within the most rigorous legality,” they indicate.. To do this, they mediate between the owner and the occupants “with the presence of a lawyer who is present in all negotiations to ensure that the law is not broken.” Desokupa is in charge of carrying out express evictions, although the practices of this type of company have been questioned by various groups.
How do these express eviction companies work?
According to the information collected by the specialized legal portal Iberley on this type of company, their services are contracted by the owner of the occupied dwelling. “The company examines the specific case and carries out a study of the illegal occupants of the house, to make sure that, for example, there are no minors,” the portal details.
One of the first ways to act after making the checks is to try to mediate, so “the usual thing is that the first attempt is to offer an amount of money on the condition that they leave the house. Another alternative is what is known as “access control”, which implies “the continuous presence of one or more people belonging to the company at the access door in order to press”, although this control must be carried out by authorized persons.