A British woman has been forced to sell her dream Spanish holiday villa after a squatter moved in and refused to leave.
Joanne Venet, 61, says her ordeal began when a tenant refused to pay his €1,400 a month rent for the €450,000 three-bedroom luxury villa near Benidorm earlier this year.
Joanne was then faced with Spain's tough tenancy laws which could have seen her spend years and thousands of pounds to evict the tenant, who was a Spanish citizen.
In the end the wedding celebrant and actress from Radcliffe, Greater Manchester, was forced to pay an eviction agency - or 'de-squatters' - £4,000 to evict the tenant who owed €5,600 (£4,800) for four months unpaid rent and bills.
When she finally obtained possession of the property, it was trashed and covered in cocaine and cannabis paraphernalia, and debris.
