Yesterday, Wednesday November 19th, the People’s Party (PP) used its majority in the Senate to pass a bill that changes the Penal Code so that disrupting utilities on “illegally occupied property” is no longer a crime of compulsion. The Basque Nationalist Party (PNV) was in favour of the bill, although Together for Catalonia (Junts) did not vote.
The Congress of Deputies will now look at the bill. It can either accept or reject it so that it can move on to the Senate for further consideration. The bill could pass if the political factions vote the same way in both chambers.
The “popular” party wants to change the Penal Code by adding a new paragraph to article 172.1, which deals with illegal occupations. This new paragraph would make it clear that cutting off supply in an occupied house “can in no case be considered a crime of coercion.”
The PP says that the Provincial Court of Barcelona agreed that “owners can cut off supplies to squatters without this being considered a crime of coercion.”
“The Provincial Court of Barcelona’s decision to stop supplies could set a precedent in the fight against illegal occupation,” the PP said.
But they want to change the Penal Code “to make the rules clearer and so that it can be used legally all over Spain.”
Author: Derek Appleton
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