A couple who bought a dream home in Tenerife say the previous owner is refusing to move out - and has even threatened to squat at the property for another decade.
José Miguel and Rosario are already three years into a bitter legal battle over the house in La Laguna, and have even taken the case to the Supreme Court after the ex-resident remained inside.
At first the house seemed to tick all their boxes, having a good location, a reasonable price and an owner who appeared happy to sell.
So when they signed the sale and purchase contract in December 2019 and handed over a cheque for 50,000 euros (£42,000), everything felt like it was going smoothly as they got their hands on a "perfect" retreat by the sea.
But the local couple had little idea what would come next when they naively agreed to let the seller - who Express.co.uk reports is a woman of Belgian origin - stay at the house for one more night.
Rosario said the lady suddenly "started to make up excuses in order to stay", which constantly "kept changing" every time they spoke - until they eventually conceded it would be impossible to reach any kind of solution with her.
The lady is also said to have told them: "I'll stay as a squatter for 10 years.."
It has left the couple in a nightmare scenario where they now take full responsibility for mortgage and have shelled out on other expenses that have cost them almost 150,000 euros (£128,000), but still cannot enter their house.
The woman currently argues that she cannot leave her children behind as they would be unprotected.
After multiple court trips José Miguel and Rosario have won all the proceedings, and the eviction date was even set for March of this year - but thanks to an unfortunate delay and what they describe as the "slowness" of the justice system, they remain locked out.
An original eviction date was postponed because of a local court clerks' strike, and the pair are now waiting to hear back on a new date.
José Miguel said: “She always claims to have a child in foster care and it is very difficult to evict her. Justice has given us the reason.
“I have lodged complaints with the juvenile prosecutor's office, the La Laguna Town Hall, and the social services. Nobody is doing anything. The slowness... It can't take three and a half years for them to give us what is ours.
In the meantime however they have no option but to keep paying, as they told TV channel Antena 3: "We are paying the mortgage, the rent, the electricity bills. We pay absolutely everything except the water."
