Vacant apartments held for ransom in Spain

Barcelona

A WALL of bricks and cement covers the window of a brand new apartment on the ground floor of a quaint building in Barceloneta, a trendy seaside neighbourhood in Barcelona.

The goal? To prevent the vacant flat from being taken over by organised gangs who break into empty homes, hand them over to others for a fee who then proceed to hold the owners to ransom - a phenomenon that has homeowners and authorities concerned.

The gangs "look for empty flats online or in public registries to break into", said Enrique Vendrell, president of Barcelona's …