A 74 year-old British widow, who has lived happily on the Costa del Sol for more than 25 years, has been left “shocked, sickened and distraught” after her beloved family home in Mijas Costa was “totally trashed” by New Year’s Eve revellers.
To help supplement her retirement income, Val Williams, who works as a fundraising volunteer at Fuengirola’s Salon Variétés Theatre, agreed to rent out her villa on the Lew Hoad urbanisation over New Year to a “smart, well-dressed, young Spanish lady,” who had contacted her in November via a property website.
But little did she know at the time that the rental would end up causing such heartache.
“I prepared the villa for her with new Christmas decorations and even stocked the fridge with champagne and beer. When she arrived on the morning of 31st December with a couple of friends, she seemed delightful and friendly and said the rest of the group, which would total 12, would be arriving later,” Val tells SUR in English.
“However, the next day, when it was time for them to leave, I went back to the villa to recover the keys and to pay back the deposit they had left with me, and I opened the door to discover a scene of utter carnage. My home, which my late husband and I built and which has always been my pride and joy, had been totally trashed. I collapsed with shock and wept and wept.”
She continues: “All the furniture and walls were sprayed green, red and blue, the floors were covered in a thick black glue, the sofas were ruined, the mirrors and cupboard smashed, the doors kicked in, every toilet was full to the top with vomit, excrement was spread over the walls, and used needles, condoms and tampons were scattered throughout.”
“It’s difficult to describe just how disgusting it was.”
After some research, Val says she believes that the illegal party was advertised on Facebook and Twitter and that the person who had rented the property from her was charging an entrance fee to up to 150 party-goers.
As Val tries to move on from the ordeal, and as “a team of wonderful friends and professional cleaners with industrial machinery”, continue the clean-up, she tells this newspaper she is sharing her experience as a warning to others.
She says: “I’ve been told by the legal authorities, to which I reported the incident, that as I didn’t have a legal contract in Spanish that there’s little they can do. Similarly, the insurance will not pay out as the culprits didn’t break into the property. Therefore, I would urge anyone who rents out a property to ensure that all the paperwork is in order, because if something goes wrong, like it did for me, it can end up being very costly – as well as utterly heartbreaking. I blame myself of course for not having all the required documentation - just a written agreement, backed-up with a verbal promise - and for trusting a stranger. Now I just hope that other homeowners will be able to learn from my mistakes.”