[buzzdenver]

Squatting is a funny thing in many places. In Spain you have 48 hours to make a police report. After that evicting squatters will be a many months long legal process during which you'll need to keep paying all the bills and taxes for your property.

[lifeinthevoid]

In Belgium, police cannot evict squatters unless they are caught during the act of entering. Lunacy and a veritable nightmare if your property is targeted.

[poorlyknit]

The regulation incentivizes one to actually use the property instead of parking one's money there, so I think it's working as intended.

In order to avoid squatting, put the property to use or hire a security company. Don't expect the state to provide protection for land that's not being put to use.

[buzzdenver]

Do you really want to live in a world where you need to hire security if you want to go on a two-week vacation? I fail to see how the squatting that is described in the article is different from theft.