http://elpais.com/elpais/2013/05/28/inenglish/1369741193_424081.html
For the last year or so, most of the 65 properties that make up the La Secuoya vacation complex in Almeria, Andalusia, have been occupied by around 40 families, gypsies who had been living in caves in nearby Almanzora. La Secuoya, built by a British property developer using a seven-million-euro loan from failed savings bank Bancaja, is among hundreds of such developments - many of which have also been occupied - along Spain's coastline, victims of the collapse of a construction boom that has sent prices tumbling by up to 40 percent since 2007.
Around 500 kilometers away, in a 12-story office block on Madrid's central Paseo de la Castellana thoroughfare, are the offices of Sareb, the so-called "bad" bank set up last year by the state to take over some 90 billion euros' worth of failed real estate projects like La Secuoya from the nationalized lenders - Bankia, Catalunya Banc, NCG Banco, Banco Gallego, Banco de Valencia, Banco Mare Nostrum, Ceiss, Liberbank and Caja 3.
According to Sareb, its holdings also include 76,357 vacant and 6,293 rented homes, along with 14,859 plots of land. The institution also owns property development loans for 61,702 finished and 3,924 projects under construction. Sareb's assets, which it bought at discounts of up to 63 percent, are valued at 50 billion euros.
The bad bank has not only taken over the loan that La Secuoya's promoter has failed to pay back, but will also have to deal with the demands of buyers who paid but have not been able to take possession of their property.
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