Natividad and Paco, both 76 years old, bought a small apartment in the Madrid neighborhood of Villaverde with their savings to have additional income in retirement. Seven years ago they rented it to a good-looking couple.

At the end of 2021, the couple divorced and the man, of North African nationality, stayed in the house and stopped paying. He has become an annoying squatter and owes them more than 12,000 euros in rent, plus the electricity, water and gas costs.