Every country in the world has its pros and its cons, and with everything going down in the United States it is nice to hear some compliments for a change from foreigners living in the country and enjoying it. Of course, that does not negate all the negatives, but since you must take the good with the bad it is at least nice that social media is highlighting some of the better pros and helping them spread. For decades now American movies have done a good job portraying what life in the United States is in theory, but there are plenty of problems and real life situations that movies just do not cover, as they belong to the mundane realm that does not make for good long form content, but it does make for good TikTok viral videos.
This time it is a Spanish influencer who works in the United States as an au pair with a family in Atlanta. The woman, who publishes videos on TikTok under the handle @marionsfalomi has now dedicated her account to recount her experiences in the United States as well as comparing them to what they would be like in Spain, and to her, there are a few circumstances where she thinks that the United States come up ahead.
The main problem that the United States solves better than Spain according to this influencer – squatting
Amidst posts comparing salaries, food, supermarkets, and other establishments, as well as customer service practices and just observations about life in general in both countries, she uploaded a couple of more controversial videos about some of the problems that are pervasive in Spain but she does not believe that exist in the United States, one of them being squatters.
Spain is having a housing crisis, and due to very particular circumstances that happened a few years ago, legislation was changed and, frankly, relaxed to ensure that when vulture funds took over mortgages from everyday families they could have a recourse to stay in their homes and fight for their properties. Of course, like many pieces of legislation, this backfired quickly as those without scruples took advantage of the new situation and began to squat on properties that were not theirs and that were in fact, owned by regular citizens that had just gone on vacation or even just been gone for a few hours.
This is now a problem that many families face, as they cannot kick out those who are illegally in their property and due to the laws, the police’s hands are tied unless you have an alarm that proves that it was truly a breaking and entering situation.
According ot the influencer, that just does not happen in the United States, where if you dared squat in someone’s property you would be “out in ten minutes”. As refreshing as it is to hear this positive take, it is also wrong, as the United States also faces this issue. While it might be easier to resolve than in Spain, especially if you act quick, there are plenty of laws protecting adverse possession, tenancy rights after a certain time has passed that can only be fixed with a formal eviction and squatter rights laws, which also exist in many states.
Surface level praise can seem nice, but just because someone’s perception of the situation makes them believe something, it does not mean that it is true. The United States is not a country where you can easily take someone’s property without consequences, but there are plenty of horror stories that prove that it also happens within our borders, and it can also be every homeowner’s nightmare to fix.