Your property is empty eight months a year. Here's what that risks.

A holiday home that's used for six or eight weeks a year is a fairly unusual insurance profile anywhere. In Spain it's common enough that owners don't always realise how much of the risk sits in what nobody is doing while they're away.

The bills that run whether or not you're there

Electricity carries a fixed cost linked to your contracted power even when the house is empty, which surprises owners who assume a zero-usage month means a zero bill. IBI, the basura charge and community fees all keep arriving too.

Why unpaid municipal bills are worse than they look

A missed IBI payment accrues surcharges that increase the longer the debt sits, and can eventually lead to a lien or embargo against the property. Community fees are similar in spirit but different in consequence: a community can pursue a debtor through the courts, and a persistent non-payer can find themselves restricted from community votes or facilities until the debt is cleared.

There is no "occupation" cover by default

This is the one worth checking today. Standard buildings and contents insurance for a Spanish property does not automatically include occupation-related cover, and a policy without an explicit clause for unlawful occupation leaves an absentee owner exposed precisely where they're most at risk. Read it at renewal — don't assume it's inherited year to year.

What a regular visit actually changes

• A leak found in week one instead of month five.
• Post collected, so nothing official is quietly ignored.
• Someone on site when a contractor needs access.
• A visible, lived-in property — the cheapest deterrent there is.
• A record of the property's condition, which matters at renewal and at resale.

We don't just check on your property; we protect its value