Ex KGB spy, Felipe Turover, entrenched in the room next door, letter to Judge Inmaculada González Cervera, justice in Spain, found him on a list of Russian mafia, the news reaches Russia, the secret police intervene, besieged in our own home, he vandalised our house but no injunction from court.

Sunday 30th January 2022

On the TV again, explaining our plight

Dear all. 

I really wish I had some good news this week to share with you; news that Felipe Turover, our unwelcome squatter has left. But no, he remains entrenched in his room. Our horror story continued but Wednesday took the biscuit when it comes to the events of the past few weeks. The plot really thickened that day. Thursday was the climax when he broke into our house and committed vandalism. but got away unscathed. Read on to find out what happened. 

Last Sunday he emerged from his room after being entrenched since Friday. We were happy to see him go. He came back later and we were once again faced with the nightmare of living with him. He is destroying our lives. Actually it wasn't as easy as that. We thought he had lost his keys after his "suicide attempt" when he returned from hospital. Thus he has asked us to open the gate for him each time  having told us he has keys but thinks he shouldn't use them. Strange! We had missed calls from him during our siesta time which we didn't hear at around 3 pm. Then at dinner at 8 we surmised he was still out. That's when I knocked on his door and I found him lying on his bed in a silk dressing gown with a smug look on his face. I asked him how he got in and he said with "his keys". Oh, so he has keys. We wondered. Was this another game with us? Probably. 

Sunday was quiet but I couldn't get him off my mind. We did go for a walk that day, our only trip outdoors and my only walk this week.  We even dared to go together for the first time in weeks. It was my first walk since the media campaign began and I really needed it. My knee hurt of course but I tried to ignore it. Thanks to our squatter I had to cancel the operation to mend the meniscus on 13th January. When all this is over I shall have to reschedule a date for the operation.

We ate leftovers. I just have no urge to cook these days and am happy to eat whatever there is in the fridge. Poor Eladio opens sardine tins when he only gets a vegan style menu of vegetable soup and lentils. I don't really care much about food. How could I with Felipe Turover (FT) on my mind the whole time.?As he left late that morning Eladio asked him once again when he was leaving. He replied the next day or on Tuesday. Of course we didn't believe him.

After reading last week's post, my dear friend Sandra wrote: "I am baffled by the corrupt legal system that enables crooks like him to survive while not protecting the innocent and law abiding like you. It is shameful". She had put in a nutshell what we think about Spain's law for squatters. Shameful it is indeed. 

Sunday seemed a long day and we spent it alone with no social engagements. We don't seem to have any these days and that is sad. We can't go away either, for fear he will take over the whole house. If he does that Spanish law will once again be on his side and we would not be allowed to live in our own house. Can you imagine that? Baffling isn't it? At times the situation makes me angry, at others it makes me frustrated. We are totally impotent in this nightmare we are living. All my energy is devoted to our nightmare which has totally disrupted our lives. We hardly go on walks, hardly go out for coffee or for meals and haven't traveled anywhere since November. 

Monday dawned and I was up early. My first thoughts, as usual, were about FT, smugly enjoying the comfort of one of the best en suite rooms in the house,  knowing that the law is on his side. Damn the man. But one day he will be evicted and he knows that. Meanwhile to quote Sir Winston Churchill again: "keep calm and carry on". We are trying to do that. 

That morning Oli had scheduled the visit of another TV programme from TVE1 the national broadcaster she works for. Maria was coming from the late morning programme called "Mejor contigo". As Lucy was at home we decided to go on a walk before Maria arrived. Meanwhile we decided to find out once and for all whether our unwelcome guest really had keys. We had begun to suspect that on Sunday when he returned he may have climbed the gate and got into the house through the garage while we were sleeping. Thus we locked the garage too. Our trick did not work as when I was out later that day, Eladio opened it for him. As he walked up the drive with Lucy he shoved a 5 euro note into her pocket and she threw it in his face to make sure he felt unwelcome. We would have to try again. 

Maria and her cameraman were waiting for us when we came back. Maria and Oli both did their TVE master in journalism together so we gave her a warm welcome. Here she is on camera before we were invited to talk.

TV cameras were here again this week

Unfortunately, our squatter and ex KGB spy, Felipe Turover, was out but Maria could see for herself our plight. Nearly all the cameras do their reports outside our room and his which is just next door. It's like living with the enemy. As you know we have had to put a lock on our door.

His room is right next to ours on the right. We can't stand this much more.

The live report was at 13.30 and we knew the drill as we have had a sort of crash course in appearing on TV. You can watch the clip here by the way. Towards the end of the interview we had to cut it a bit short as there was breaking news in Spain: The younger daughter of former King Juan Carlos, the Infanta Cristina and her husband, Iñaki Urdangarin - in prison for money siphoning -  announced they were breaking up. This comes after the erring Iñaki, a former Barcelona handball player, was caught on camera walking along a beach with another woman in France the week before. That's big news but I was glad at least that our story had been voiced again. 

I think my husband must have been thinking about the next step in evicting our squatter when he decided to sit down and write a letter to the judge who had denied us the precautionary measure of evicting him before trial back in November. Her words when doing so were along these lines: "too extreme a measure for his freedom". But what about ours? So this is the letter he wrote which is badly translated by Google I'm afraid. 

To Her Honour, Judge Inmaculada González Cervera

 In the first place we would like to pay our respects to your honor and to the institution you represent.

Your honour, Doña Inmaculada, the day you denied the precautionary measure to evict Felipe Turover before trial (document enclosed)  on  21st November last,  you returned home to peace and quiet and did not have the misfortune to find a former KGB agent occupying a bedroom right next to yours. We have had to endure a character like this for months now next to ours.

Felipe Turover makes life impossible for us. At home there is an atmosphere of constant intimidation.

That day we returned home with our hearts destroyed. Perhaps we did not know how to express ourselves adequately in our statements. The injunction would have saved us, but ……. justice in this country goes slowly and thus our family intimacy was destroyed. You can't imagine what this is like, living day by day with this character who defiantly accesses all the rooms in the house, the kitchen, the fridge... In a way we are at his mercy. This is hell. María has constant nervous attacks and is undergoing psychological treatment. I myself confess that I have been tempted to do something crazy. We are very afraid, afraid that our health will deteriorate, because the worst thing is the emotional trauma, the feeling of helplessness, not seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. We are afraid because  a person like this, with his background, could do anything to us. Before coming to our house, he entered another house, also through the same holiday platform, and police investigations were necessary until he was evicted.

The other day we heard very loud bangs in his room and we could verify damage, especially in the bathroom, broken tiles on the wall, torn off sockets, the toilet bowl filthy, rubbish and bottles of alcohol on the floor. This is typical behaviour of squatters. There were also many empty bottles of alcohol and  medicine blisters on the floor. The local police intervened. He later confessed that he had attempted suicide.

Dona Inmaculada, we can't take it much longer. We need the court to give us a solution now. He says that he has the upper hand and that he will not leave here until a judge orders it. We are people of  the law, even if it is this law. But until when? Clogged courts, staff shortage. We understand. But please do something, reconsider the injunction, we are not asking for more.

We plea with you to do all you can to ease our pain and you can do a lot.

Thank you very much for your time and your attention.

We debated about sending it by post or taking it personally but we didn't have high hopes the judge would ever read it. Oli sent it to our lawyer who for once supported us and by the end of the day we had planned going to court the next morning to give it in and also to try and speed things up. 

Monday afternoon was spent on non related FT matters and I got a breather or at least a change of atmosphere when I went to pick up Elliot from school. Miguel was working this week and on Monday was sent to Benidorm until today to film a ghastly festival taking place to choose Spain's entrant to the Eurovision Contest. That meant that Oli needed a lot of help this week and we were there to give it to her. She deserves it too as she is being such a sport helping us through this nightmare. Spiffing maybe an old fashioned word but that's how I would describe her. 

I spent some quality time with Oli and my grandchildren. My daughter had made some delicious food, vegetable fritters and cauliflower curry which she gave me for our dinner. That meant I didn't have to cook that night.

Tuesday was the day we went to court in the working class suburb of Móstoles, a depressing little town, to see what was happening to our cases; one through the penal process and one through the civil process.  We didn't know it but we would have to go twice more this week. We were met there by Jorge, our "procurador" (a lawyer who liaises with the court). Just like the town our morning was depressing and frustrating. If you have ever read the first few chapters of Kafka's Process you will know what the courts were like. Dreadful. Jorge explained we had to see 3 different courts or departments to plead our case. The first was the Civil court's offices. My what we saw there made my heart drop. I got Oli to take a photo to record the embarrassing photo that sums up Spain's sluggish justice system. 

This picture says it all

There were just 3 desperate clerks to deal with all that paperwork strewed on the floor. We had to talk to them from the doorway at quite a distance. They complained there were not enough clerks. Of course there aren't. When we told them about our case which was lying at the bottom of one of these piles of files, they retrieved ours. If we hadn't gone along and if our case had not become high profile because of the PR campaign, the clerks would probably have sent us on our way. If we had not gone that day, no doubt the hearing would probably never see the light of day for at least this year!!!!! Our case had not even been assigned to a clerk yet. Luckily one of the women took a bit of pity on us and looking through the file to make sure the paperwork was correct, she gave us a date for the hearing: 17th February next. That sounded good but it had a caveat.  Eviction would not take place until 4th April. I don't know if we can wait that long. Furthermore these are only tentative dates as FT could try to torpedo everything and then the case could carry on for ages. At least we had a date though. That's what we are hanging on to now. 

I went out feeling depressed and wondering if it wasn't better after all to bribe our squatter to go. But that is a dangerous road to go down as his leaving has to be legalised and what if he comes back? He could if the case isn't resolved soon. 

Our next visit was to the offices of the penal court number 2 where they held our file which had been dropped. We wanted it opened again so as to submit my medical report to get an injunction for FT to leave before a hearing. We asked to speak to the judge and to give in our letter even though it was addressed to the judge of Court 3. That's where we were met by a clerk spitting out strict procedure protocols in order to do so. We didn't get far with her. Our last visit was to Court number 3 which is the on duty court for urgent reports and where we first made our report back on 19th November.  This is presided over by said Judge Inmaculada González Cervera. The clerk in charge of our case was out having a coffee and would be back in half an hour! We waited only to be told that the judge was on leave. It seems no one can do her work while she is away. That meant we could not deliver the letter. We also found out we could not leave it to her either as it had to be sent via our lawyer following court protocol!!! Imagine our frustration. 

At about 2 pm I came away thinking Spanish justice was on a par with countries like Bangladesh (with due respect to Bangladesh), except for the foul smells or cows. Those piles of paperwork were proof of that. As a friend said later; "public service at its worst". This is our first experience with the judicial system in Spain in all my 40 years here. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. As I have said in recent weeks, I have lost all faith in Spanish institutions since our nightmare began. 

Olivia tired to cheer us up by saying we would be rid of him by Easter. I just sat feeling glum in the back of the car as she drove us home. We had of course achieved something, dates for the hearing and eviction which without our visit on Tuesday we would not have got. I wondered why we had to go in person to plead our case a job our lawyer should have done for us. 

We came home to lunch and I ate because I was hungry not because I was interested in what was on my plate. I had a quick respite before leaving the house again to pick up Elliot from play school and once again spent the afternoon with Oli and our grandchildren.

That day our unwanted squatter did not leave his room. 

Wednesday came and Oli and I were going to the courts again to try to talk to the senior clerk in Court number 1 to get the eviction date to take place earlier than 4th April. and also to confirm the date of the hearing.  We wondered if he would even receive us but we had to try. I hate going to  Móstoles and the depressing and soulless courts. In the end we didn't go as our lawyer said to wait till Thursday in case the clerk rang as she had promised to do (she didn't). Thus we were at a loose end or so we thought. How wrong we were. We had no idea what Wednesday would turn out to be like. 

That day the plot thickened. It started off with me googling FT again, but in Russian (Филипп Туровер). This time I searched in images. I couldn't believe what I came up with. He is on a list of the Russian mafia!!!!! So he isn't just a KGB spy but also a member of the Mafia. OMG. This is the page I found. 

FT on this list of Russian Mafia!!! (he is on the left with his head looking up We know it's him as this was one of the  photos he had sent to the journalist from El País. 

I had first googled his name in Russian to find out if news of his squatting here had reached his birth country and by God it had. This means if he returns there, his doings in Spain will also be available to anyone in Russia who looks him up. I found two items in news in Russia about him. These are the links. This is all part of the media coverage of our PR campaign to give voice to our story both in Spain and abroad. 

https://russpain.com/news/historia/el-pais-ispaniya-byvshij-shpion-kgb-v-sosednej-komnate/

https://ura.news/news/1052527147

That got me thinking that maybe I should generate more news coverage in Russia. How though? I had the answer when I remembered the correspondent, Esther, for the Russian news agency Sputnik News who had interviewed me a while back about hiring our pool on the Swimmy Platform. She was very interested and so was I as her article would be shared both in Spain and in Russia. But she had to get the go ahead from her editor and "Russian bosses" so maybe I won't hear from her again.  I then got the contact for the infamous Russian news portal, Russia Today but the chap didn't get back. 

In the car leaving our house, Oli  and I could talk of nothing else; FT now a member of the mafia and news of his squatting reaching Russia. Wow! With not much to do we went shopping to Carrefour for a few items and then some errands. At around 11.30 we decided on a cup of coffee at our favourite place, Alverán. We sat inside by the window which looks out on the cafe terrace and the street. While sipping my coffee I nearly choked as I could see FT walking on the zebra crossing on his way to the same cafeteria we were in!!! I got nervous and worried and both Oli and I urged the waiter not to let him inside. But we couldn't stop him. He had obviously walked all the way from our house to the cafe which takes 35 minutes. It was awful to coincide with him.   Oli took a photo of him choosing his pastry and ordering his coffee while I could see 3 packets of cigarettes on the table he had chosen outside.

FT in our cafe with me looking on

We told the whole cafe he was the man squatting in our house. He walked outside with his breakfast - so he is not penniless - looking unabashed. 

He was enjoying his breakfast when suddenly a man appeared by his side. We presumed it was a friend so out we went to confront him. We asked the man if he was Felipe's friend to which he answered he was. We then asked him if he knew he was a squatter at our house at which he shrugged his shoulders. It was then I realised two more men were looking on and I took a photo of the whole scene while the latter protested. I asked them if they were also Felipe's friends. They ignored me.

FT on Wednesday at the cafe with 3 men

They shooed us inside and one of them showed me his police ID - OMG, they were secret or undercover police and they were obviously investigating him. That was when the plot really thickened. We watched breathless and taking pictures even though we had been told not to do so. From the cafe they escorted him to their non police marked car where they probably were getting his ID, etc. We had hoped they would put him in it and take him to a police station but it was not to be. Before they left they came into the cafe to tell us they were investigating him but would say no more. My God,  what a coincidence. I wondered how they had found him at the cafe. Had they been following him from our house or had they been tracking his phone?  We do know as I'm not sure I have written before that someone very high up in Spanish justice, an anti corruption prosecutor, told us he had been searching for our squatter for 10 years so maybe that was why the secret police were there that day. If only it had been to evict him. 

We came home to tell the story to Eladio. It felt like being in the middle of a Netflix drama I can tell you. The drama increased in the afternoon with events leaving me trembling. We had been trying to fathom whether FT had really lost his keys the day he came back from hospital. He kept saying he has or had his set and we had told him the day before that we would no longer open and close the gate and doors for him. Well that Wednesday if he had a key he would have opened the gate and if not he would have had to climb over it - no mean feat. .At about 4.30 another TV camera crew arrived (Europa Press TV) from a Spanish news agency. As we were telling them the whole story, FT returned. He came to the French windows of the lounge trying to get in. That means he does not have a key to the main door of the house. We decided not to open any of the doors to him as he supposedly has keys. Eladio was out getting Elliot from school and we told him not to come back until the whole episode was over. With FT outside waiting for us to open, the reporter interviewed me. He then wanted to interview FT of course as this was his chance. We opened the kitchen door for him and the cameraman and shut it quickly again. We agreed that later Oli would go through the study door and down the garden to the main gate to open it for them when they had finished. We suspected that meanwhile he would call the police. He did. I went up to bed as I couldn't face them and Oli went out  instead. She had left the pedestrian street gate unlocked so when FT protested we wouldn't let him in to the police, Oli replied but the gate is open isn't it so you (FT)  must have opened it? He didn't deny that. His excuse for not being able to get into the house was that there was a key in the lock of the front door on the inside (there wasn't). In front of the police Oli challenged him and asked him to try to open the door with his key. Instead he rang the bell. She insisted and he then said his key was upstairs. Oli remarked to the police that this was another lie of his and it was. We now know he has to climb the gate to get in and out. We do not know why he pretended or pretends to have his keys. Who knows what is going on inside his head?  

Can you imagine living the above situation? It felt like being besieged in our own home. I had no idea it would get worse and come to a head the next evening. 

When this was all over we were able to talk to the TV reporter to ask him what FT had said on camera. He had told yet another lie as to why he wasn't paying us. In previous declarations to TV cameras he had said it was because of a financial "lagoon". This time he came up with a blatant lie. He said it was because his camera worth 11.000 euros had gone missing from his room and that relations had tensed since then and that's why he wasn't paying us.  We laughed out loud as I have him on tape saying it went missing 5 or 6 months ago and he must have left it somewhere. So out went Olivia to tell our side of the story in front of the camera. I also sent the tape to the reporter.  I was a bit cross when they later didn't include our side of the story. 

Only when all this was over were we able to relax. We told Eladio he could come back with little Elliot and we had some quality family time for an hour or so to unwind. What a day. 

We had found out he was on a Russian mafia list, we saw him being investigated by Spanish police and we had been besieged in our own house. But there was still more to come. That night, thanks to our investigative work we found out  what he is supposedly prescribed on the Spanish national health system. It blew my mind. Just look at the cocktail of medicines he takes, including viagra which is neither here nor there really. 

Just look at the medicines he takes. He must be a junkie. 

He must have access to a doctor friend as no doctor in their right mind would give him this amount of potent sleeping tablets, pain killers, tranquilisers and anti depression pills. He has enough to kill himself over and over again. Finding the list of medicines he takes was the cherry on the cake of our findings that day. Now you see why Wednesday took the biscuit. Well, not quite as Thursday was the climax. 

I wondered how Thursday would pan out. It started off well but finished in a nightmare. Oli and I went back to the courts to try and persuade the clerks to confirm the dates for the hearing and eviction. We were lucky in a way. The preliminary date for the hearing is 17th February and 4th April for the eviction. But he could obstruct the process in many ways so no dates are set in stone I am afraid. We spent most of the morning there with only a quick respite for a cup of coffee together which we spent most of talking to our lawyer.

While we were out, FT asked my husband to open the gate. Eladio told him to use his keys. After all he had told the police the day before he did have keys. Later Lucy saw him climbing the gate into the street and shortly afterwards when Eladio took Pippa for a walk he was standing outside smoking and a taxi arriving for him. So he can pay for taxis alright.

So he was out. Good. Meanwhile a workman came to repair the wall he had destroyed in the bathroom. He could not do a very good job though as we had no replacement tiles. Basically he just the pasted the broken tiles together. 

Oli had asked us to spend the afternoon with her and the kids. We were happy to lend a hand. We stayed with Juliet when our daughter went to pick up Elliot. It was at about that time that Europa Press TV (Spanish news agency) released the story they had put together on the wires. We had thought it was going out at the weekend. Suddenly the news was everywhere on the internet on Spanish news portals and online sites of some top newspapers. It was good to see the story being picked up again. The main headline was that we had seen on a Russian website that he also belongs to the mafia apparently. This is just one example. It came out in Spain's well known right wing paper ABC. 

My video is everywhere now thanks to the news agency Europa Press

I could see it was everywhere. This was not revenge. This was part of an orchestrated PR campaign to get our case heard and to spotlight the injustice of Spain's squatter laws. My main message is that it is unfathomable that the law gives more protection to criminals than it does to law abiding citizens like us. Thanks to it we got a much earlier date for our hearing than we would have without it. 

After that we tried not to spent too much time talking about "him" or worrying about him being on our property outside the house.  So we took the kids to a nearby park and spent some quality time  together. Elliot particularly loves the slides.

Elliot enjoying the slide in the park on Thursday

We had left the house empty as Lucy had gone to Madrid as she was to get her booster jab at a health clinic in the centre and wouldn't be back until the next day. At around 6 pm while at the park, we got calls from Felipe. He had obviously arrived and wanted to get in the house but couldn't. So where are his keys we thought? We left him to it and did not pick up his calls as our lawyer has told us not to have any communication at all with him. Worried about getting into trouble for not letting him in, our lawyer told us there was no law that said we have to give him a set of keys if he has lost his. She also told us that we had no obligation to be at home to act as his porter. Knowing this we left him to it. Once back in Oli's flat playing with Elliot and looking after Juliet, we received a threatening message from him which our lawyer said could be coercion and which we should report to the police the next day. We debated going home or to stay for dinner at our daughter's house as planned. We all agreed that we should be allowed our freedom. It was then the Guardia Civil rang. I didn't hear the call but called them back as soon as I saw I had a missed call from them. They said that "Felipe, that man" had called them again. They asked if we were at home which we said we weren't. They said that was fine. So obviously they could not oblige us to go home and open the door into the house for him. But we were worried and so we should have been but on the other hand we thought we had the right to some sort of normality in our lives as we have hardly gone out to enjoy ourselves since our ordeal began. 

At around 10 pm when we had finished dinner and were getting the kids ready for bed, a neighbour called to say there were very loud noises coming from our house as if someone was trying to break in and she could hear shattered glass!!!! Oh my God what had he done? Oli rang the Guardia Civil and we drove home. We asked our neighbour Julio to accompany us but we waited for the police to arrive before we went in. What had he done? We walked into our property with trepidation. He was waiting for us. Oh my God I want to see him go. Eladio said we had unleashed the beast in him by not returning home to open the door for him. But for God's sake, don't we have the right to go out whether he is in the house or not? 

There were two policemen. One took Felipe aside and the other came with us to inspect the damage. We soon found the most obvious damage which was a broken window belonging to my father's bedroom. He had obviously tried to break in and get inside. Omg. What can I say?  Imagine how we were feeling at that moment. Shocked doesn't begin to describe it. 

He broke the glass of my father's bedroom window where he had tried to get in

He had also destroyed the key hole of the pedestrian gate into the property. But unbelievably we were forced to admit Felipe back into the house and allow him to go to his room!!!! He should have been arrested. We could have filed a report that night but it was late and in any case the police had to come back the next morning to take photos. Would they be enough with all the other evidence we have to get him evicted through injunction? We sincerely hoped so. 

I was hardly able to sleep. No doubt our delinquent squatter was though, especially with all those sleeping tablets he takes.

I woke up  on Friday morning to find more damage. He had broken off  the front handles of two French windows, one in the kitchen and one in our study. So now we had to file a report about the lock, the broken window and the two door handles, as well as his threatening message.  This madman had been on the rampage furious he couldn't get into the house and had turned to vandalism to do so. Wouldn't his vandalism be considered a crime in itself and be enough for him to be issued a restraining order and be evicted until the hearing? That was our hope. Anyone with a bit of common sense would think so too but not the personnel working in that glum and depressing court house in Móstoles where people are just numbers and cases. 

Soon Oli was with us and working on a report with advice from our lawyer. At about 11.30 we set off for the courts once again. We were received and pleaded our cause. I was so worked up I'm afraid I had a panic attack in front of everyone. I don't know if this worked for or against us. To cut a long story short at about 2 pm we were told there would be no injunction and that the dispute had to be solved in the civil court. So that was it, the judge thought the crime was minor and FT no threat to us. She sent us off packing while she probably went to her quiet and peaceful house with no KGB man in the room next door.

I think I felt numb when we were told that our plea had served no purpose. I just concluded that Spain is like a Banana Republic when it comes to its squatting laws. So now we have to wait until 17th February, that is if he doesn't try to obstruct the proceedings which I am sure he will. I posted my news on my FB and Instagram profiles. No one I know either in Spain or abroad can believe what is happening to us. Neither can we. 

We spent the rest of the day with our grandchildren. There was nothing for it but to wait.That night Oli and the kids slept here. 

Saturday came and it seemed to be the only normal day of the week. It would have been nice to go out all together but someone had to stay at home in case FT went on the rampage again. Eladio stayed behind with Juliet while Oli, Elliot and I did the necessary food shopping. We managed a quick coffee at Alveran. There were no policemen this time nor FT. As far as we know he hasn't left his room since Friday night. We are still trying to find out who the police were and what they were investigating. We thought it was related to the work of the top anti corruption prosecutor but he is equally baffled. Our FBI agent reckons it must be because of all the media coverage from our case. I think it is perhaps because of some other crime or crimes he may have committed. 

Life went on and we ordered a take away - Indian curry - so as not to have to cook. I managed to sleep for about an hour after lunch which felt restoring. The rest of the day was spent with the kids who do help to keep our minds off FT. Oli and I should have been writing a new press release to send today. Somehow we shall have to try and do it this morning, kids permitting. 

So my friends and readers, this is the story of our week. I can only hope next week brings better news.

Till then, cheers, Masha

Living with our squatter Felipe Turover, playing the victim, a top secret service officer gets involved, the media campaign slows down for a while, taking a breather and other stories.

Sunday 23rd January, 2022

Taking a breather. My first time out in nearly 2 weeks was for a coffee at Manolo Bakes

Dear all.

I imagine some of you are following our nightmare story; living with the now exposed "KGB operative", Felipe Turover, since I posted the whole story in last week's blog. If last week was a nightmare, this week was slightly less so as we took a conscious decision to slow down the media campaign in the middle of the week.  Evidently he has not gone yet and we continue to live with our squatter. We are now not on speaking terms or only in a cursory manner when he asks for us to unlock the front door and gate so as to go out on foot for food or drink or I don't know what. 

This week has still been tense though. Now let me tell you about it. 

Last weekend, on Saturday, I had 3 conversations with him, the content of which I didn't reveal. Now I can as the cat has been let out of the bag. In a sort of heart to heart first thing in the morning he told me he had tried to commit suicide and would do it again. OMG! I then looked through his rubbish  in the garden hut and found the evidence. What we cannot know is how much he took the day he said he tried to kill himself. Did he really or was it a calculated attempt to bring attention and play the victim?

Evidence of his possible suicide attempt last week

I told the family and called our rather useless lawyer, Veronica G. She was stumped as to what to do. She told me to call the police to report it. Meanwhile she and Oli said I needed evidence. That meant I would have to have another conversation but tape it this time. I needed him to say he had tried to quit his life and that he would do it again. He did so. 

Shortly afterwards when Oli and I rushed to buy some food, we found him walking back from A&E where he had walked to get more pills. We stopped and I asked him what he was carrying - more pills. That is when he confessed to having taken all the Stillnox from 5 blisters with one bottle of wine but that it hadn't worked. He hadn't died. Since then he has bounced back so I tend to think it was all a game. 

Following is the content of our next conversation, the third, I taped. In it he confessed to many things and tried to explain his behaviour. Yes he hadn't paid, he would pay, he wanted to leave, he was totally broke having lost all his money and had had to choose between paying his rent or the fees for his father's care home.  He also explained his previous lies; that his Father was not Spanish but really Russian and that he had never married nor had a son He had married but told me it wasn't relevant as he married early and his son hated him; thus he told everyone he was a bachelor.  He then went on to confess that the previous week when he had been carted off in an ambulance, he had tried to take his life; something I sort of suspected; with a cocktail of pills (Stillnox mainly) and alcohol - see above -  When I asked why he hadn't told me of his financial situation back at the end of September, he said because he was ashamed. I explained that if he had I would have tried to help him. Instead he told us a string of lies. His reply was to say he had behaved badly and that his head was not in the right place. He cried while talking to me and seemed convincing. He said he wasn't a bad man and was no danger to us. I remarked he had had a very difficult life - communism, high politics in Russia - life in danger - he admitted he had worked for Putin when he was the Vice Mayor of St. Petersburg and knew him!! Asked what he would do  after all this scandal now that his real persona was showcased he said he had no option but to move abroad. I asked if he could go to Russia; i.e. did he fear for his life there? He wasn't sure but said that if the Russian mafia killed him, they would be doing him a favour. Finally, as bait but with no real intention, I offered to pardon his debt (3.500 euros) and pay him 3000 to go. He did not accept saying he couldn't take my money. I was sort of surprised. It seemed there was still some decency in this man, a broken man at the end of the road. But I was wrong. 

What a conversation. My daughter listened to it and told me he was trying to manipulate me emotionally so as to regain trust in him and help him. She did not believe the suicide story. Do I? Not now.  He has no family here and I am a sort of mother figure he clings to but dupes at the same time. It is driving me mad. With this evidence I rang the police the next day.  They were of no help nor would social services be. The told me that unless he was committing suicide in front of me; i.e. me witnessing it, their hands were tied. I was so frustrated. 

Sunday 16th December came, nearly 2 months since we tried to kick him out. It  was the day Djokovic was deported from Australia after the visa case. I only wished I could deport my squatter and possible fugitive. 

He was in his room until 1 pm when he went out and did not come back until 7pm. When he did he told Lucy he had been out for lunch. So he does have some funds. Remember that each time he leaves or comes back he needs us to open the gate as we think he has lost his keys. Yes, I feel like his jailer and he doesn't complain. Very odd. 

Shortly afterwards a TV crew came from Antena 3 for a live report at 8.45 pm just before the news. Minutes earlier Oli sent me a clip of him being interviewed by Telemadrid. So he was talking to the press too.  Things were getting nastier. 

FT now talks to the press. Here, his first interview (live) on Saturday night with Telemadrid

This is the clip where he lies again. In the interview he said he owes us 2000 - a lie, he owes us 3500. He also said he could not have been a KGB operative as when the Russian secret service was disbanded (1991), he was only 24; another lie - he was 27. You only have to google his name to come up with thousands of references that link him to the KGB. He also said we were a good family and his answer to why he hadn't paid was that he had a "financial lagoon" - a  way of saying he was broke! When asked where he will go after leaving us he replied to another country after all the exposure of his life in the media. He denied deliberately hurting himself in the bathroom episode (lies).

Knowing what he had said I was able to counteract his lies and give my honest answer to all his "bulls***" in my own interview. When it was over,  the Antena 3 TV reporter knocked on his door but this time he didn't answer. 

Amazingly that night I was offered help through a friend who had worked for the British Secret Service. He has a friend in Madrid who was a very high profile top secret service officer (cannot reveal more - this is so cloak and dagger!)  and could help me. OMG the plot was thickening.  I wondered how the latter could. With this news that night I think I only slept about 3 hours. We also have  another important man in this story, a very high profile anti corruption prosecutor who has been looking for Felipe Turover for more than 10 years. Eladio is alarmed and said that night that  Putin has to know where the Russian "fugitive" and "KGB operative" is by now; i.e. our house. Shivers went down my spine. 

Monday morning was the day he had said he was leaving but of course he wasn't. He keeps saying he has a friend or friends who have a car and are looking for accommodation for him. They never appear. 

I had to rush to the health centre to pick up a certificate with a report on my health - how all this was affecting me; the 3 panic attacks etc. This was for our sluggish lawyer to present to the judge in the hope he would be given a precautionary measure of eviction before the trial.  I had to be there by 9.15, send it to Oli before 10 and then dash home. 

That's when I had another taped conversation with him. He told me he was heartbroken I had revealed that he had tried to commit suicide and that I had promised not to do so. I had done no such thing. As to leaving that day he told me he wanted to accept my generous offer of 3000 euros. My offer was not genuine, it was only to see how he reacted. I retorted I would talk to my husband and lawyer. His final words before leaving the house to go and have breakfast at a cafe were that his lawyer thought he had at least 6 months to live in our house before he was evicted!!! He knows the law and his rights, damn the man.

By then it was time to go to the bank. I needed a certificate to confirm I was the same account holder after our bank had been bought up by another and our account numbers had changed. This is because our account number on the "false" bank receipts FT gave to me to prove he had paid had the old number on them and the list of deposits in our account had the new account number on them. Without a certificate from the bank I could not prove he had not paid us!! Kafkian to say the least. I needed this both for the evidence submitted to court and to report him for falsifying documents; a crime in this country. Everyone knew us in the bank because we have been on the TV so much. I was promised I would be sent the certificate within 48 hours but the bank, La Caixa, is as sluggish as the Spanish legal system. During this time I have lost all faith in Spanish institutions. 

There was another rush home then for more TV interviews. Eladio went in to park and I stayed outside as the Telecinco cameras had arrived. At that moment the police appeared too to see if all was ok - quite a nice gesture. Then my surgeon rang about my cancelled knee operation. This was all too much. I was getting stressed. Inside the house I had the Telemadrid TV crew who wanted to interview me as well after FT's first appearance on Saturday.

Later both Telecinco and Telemadrid tried to find him. The former managed an interview with him and asked if I would do one too the next day  with him, face to face. I refused of course and the interview with me would be with me alone. 

By then it was lunchtime and I was exhausted. The girls' friend Copi who lives in Vitoria joined us but my mind and body were so tired I had to go up to bed and rest. As I find it difficult to sleep I decided on an extra hot bath followed by a tranquiliser. I managed to get some much needed shut eye for 2.5 hours. I have so much  to catch up on. 

Tuesday came and our media campaign continued. It was breaking him or at least I thought it was. He now looked down and out, in dire straits and dressed like a homeless man. Was this part of his strategy, to play the victim? That morning Carlos from Telecinco's Ana Rosa programme told me part of the contents of the interview with FT the day before, a video they would release later on TV. In it our unwanted guest described living at our house like "Auschwitz except for the gas chamber"! How dare he? That is an insult to Jews - he is half Jewish through his mother by the way.  He is living in the best en suite bedroom in the house and can go anytime so he is wrong to describe his lodgings like a concentration camp.  But what is clear is that the media campaign has made him "toast". He has no friends, nowhere to go, no car, no access to the kitchen, is using the same towels and sheets since November and he says he is broke. I don't believe the latter though. Am I supposed to feel sorry for him? His strategy was is to play the victim. Later that morning he was interviewed again by TeleMadrid, a local channel where he was asked what his state of mind was like. He replied it was dreadful. because of the "impartial" media coverage of him. Then asked where he would go when he eventually does, he said he would go abroad as he can no longer live in Spain. This must be because he has been completely discredited. I wonder if he knows about the international coverage on this case?  

He rang me while the Telecinco TV crew were with me and to whom I had displayed all the alcohol and pills for them to film. He needed me, his jailer, to open the gate for him. I escorted him past the cameras and table with the evidence and he remarked to me "this is an error". No it isn't. His behaviour is an error. 

Soon afterwards more cameras arrived, this time from TeleMadrid. You can see the video here

TV reporter live outside "his" room on Tuesday

Just as they were arriving so too was a newspaper journalist and his cameraman. Shortly afterwards the top secret service officer arrived too; all this in the middle of the Telemadrid camera crew. What a circus. 

We were soon sitting down over coffee in my best china to explain   our whole story to the spy. I had a lot of faith in him and really hoped he could help us but when we explained the  situation even he agreed our hands were tied. He suggested some very extreme measures we could not even contemplate. During our meeting we all wondered how this man had financed his life in the past few years. The journalist had some inside information about art trafficking and that day too we read about his making a lot of money through a shady deal of selling computers. Just look him up on the WWW and you will see. We also spoke about his poor father, now in a care home. FT had told me he had put him there in September last and couldn't afford to pay the fees of 2.700 euros a month and pay us too. It was then that the journalist rang the home and actually got through to the father. Unfortunately he has Alzheimer's. But talking to the carer we learned that FT's father had been in the home for a year (not a few months) and that it was a state run care home which of course will either be free or much cheaper than a private home. So Felipe had lied to me again. 

When leaving, our secret service guy who is very tall  hit his head on the garage roof.  Thankfully no damage was done.  Once in the street, in came Felipe and I introduced one spy to the other. Felipe must be overwhelmed with our reaction to his squatting. That's the idea; corner him and make him leave. I suspect though that he has absolutely nowhere to go and that's why we are in this  Catch 22 situation. But we shall sit it out and we shall win this battle. 

From then on I was free. I had scheduled a video call interview with The Daily Mail or the Mail online for a follow up story but was relieved to hear it would take place on Wednesday. Thus the afternoon was free. Again I had a very hot bath, took a tranquiliser and slept for 2 hours. I was then on the phone to worried friends to update them on our nightmare of living with our diabolical squatter. 

Wednesday came. I was expecting more TV cameras, Telecinco and then Telemadrid. The former did not interview me as there was too much news about a tragic fire at a care home in Valencia to fit our story in. At 13h, Telemadrid's reporter, Laura, was back with her cameraman. She interviewed Eladio this time to use a different face as I have been on TV much more than my husband. During the live report Laura knocked on our squatter's door. I thought he would come out as he is no longer camera shy but he didn't and there were no signs of noise inside.

Telemadrid reporting live outside our bedroom and "his" bedroom on Tuesday

At 3.30 pm Spanish time I had an interview with a young reporter, David A. from The Daily Mail who works on their foreign desk. I told him worriedly that Felipe had not left his room since Tuesday at 2 pm. We had a great 1 hour zoom call where I explained our case. It turns out we have a lot in common. His father is a University lecturer in Russian, his mother a teacher, he studied French and Russian and even more coincidentally went to the same University as I, Nottingham. Later though he told me his editor did not think the story was sensational enough to print! God damn it.  Isn't it? They had been keen enough to semi copy The Times story the previous week so what else did they need for a follow up story I wondered? Something far more sensational. What a rag!

I was free after that and spent a lazy afternoon resting.  I really needed it. But again there is no rest for the wicked. I began to be worried that our squatter had not left the room since Tuesday 2 pm. I kept watch trying to hear sounds inside the room but there were none. I seriously wondered whether he had committed suicide. This fear kept me worried the rest of the day and the night.  I wondered too whether he was playing me. Later I realised he was and finally stopped being worried about him. The guy is very cunning. Everything he does makes me think so. 

On Thursday I woke up and my immediate thoughts were about our squatter. Every time I wake up or try to go to sleep I have him on my mind. I wish I didn't.  When, oh God, will this nightmare be over? My friends asked whether I cared. I did before. Now I no longer do. But I didn't dare knock on his door and preferred to wait until the next day when he would have been in his room for 48 hours. 

We had another guest in the house, a repeat guest, who had arrived the night before. I desperately hoped he would not find out what was going on in our house. Luckily he didn't. 

By 7 am I was seriously worried about what was happening in "his" room. The lights were on, that I could see. When the sun rose, they were switched off which meant he was alive inside. Wow, what a relief. 

It was about then that I told my family I thought we should cut short our media campaign as it had achieved its purpose. Now we would have to rely on the civil court proceedings and hope that in between time he would leave permanently. At about 10.30 am,  he appeared and asked to be escorted out for the first time since 2 pm on Tuesday. Lucy went with  him as I just could not face FT.  She asked him when he was leaving and he said  he had found a house and would be moving out on the 23rd of 24th of this month, something I doubt very much. He was back at 4 pm carrying a bag of food in one hand and a bag of new clothes in the other. He also said he had just had his Covid booster jab. I know he is no fan of Covid vaccinations so that made me think he is probably seriously thinking of leaving the country for which he would need to be fully vaccinated. In my heart to heart with him at the weekend I encouraged him to go and live at his father's house in Orihuela (Alicante). He had told me he was trying to sell the house. However, he was lying again as that day my daughter and her partner found out there is not one property in Orihuela under the name of Turover. What am I to believe from this "compulsive liar"? I wondered too if I was wrong in withdrawing the media pressure. 

While he was out and with no media to hound him or interview us, Eladio and I went out on little errands. It was to be my first time out in nearly 2 weeks. There hasn't been time for it and neither has there been time for our walks. I was in desperate need of a breather and I got it on Thursday. After our errands were over we went to have coffee, not at the café we usually go to, Alverán, FT's favourite too, so as not to bump into him. We went to a new place called "Manolo bakes" which Oli, my daughter, told me was THE place to go to in Boadilla these days because of their wonderful croissants called "manolitos". I have been on a diet since after Christmas but succumbed to the temptation when they were offered free with our coffee and even had two as Eladio is not a fan of pastries of any type. I had broken my diet but needed to indulge myself after all the misery I have been through. I thought I deserved it. Coffee at Manolo Bakes turned out to be the highlight of the week. The photo illustrating this post is of me at that rather sublime moment of normality. 

Coffee an croissants at Manolo Bakes gave me a breather this week

For a moment life felt normal but of course it isn't. If only this guy would go and life return to what it was before the nightmare started.

Once home for lunch we thought we would be free for the rest of the day but then another emergency arose to do with the case we have filed with the civil courts to evict FT. Oli rang to say we needed to get a power of attorney from a notary that very day for our lawyer and our "procurador" - a lawyer figure in Spain who liaises between a lawyer and the court - to represent us at court. Why on earth hadn't our lawyer asked for it before?  Now we only had one afternoon to get this important piece of paper. Most notaries were closed by then but some open in the afternoons. Miguel, Oli's partner, found a few and I rang one at 5.30. Normally we would have been given an appointment for a week or so later but I pleaded and pleaded with the receptionist who kindly told us to go right away. They were closing at 6.30 pm so we had to rush to their office which is about  15km from where we live to Villanueva de la Cañada. Again people recognised us there and the notary was sympathetic to our cause. About an hour later we walked out with the power of attorney. Once home I had to scan it to send to our lawyer. Only then could we rest.

We had our dinner and then watched the news. These last few weeks I haven't paid much attention to what is going on in the world but that night after my breather, I listened and watched for the first time in about 2 weeks. Russia is on the brink of invading the Ukraine,  it was one year since Joe Biden became President of the US, the repercussions of the  garden parties at Number 10 during lockdown and Boris Johnson's terrible way of handling "partygate" were the main stories. I would like to see him ousted. Wouldn't you? Of course Covid was news too as it has been since December 2019. Omicrom seems to be peaking here in Spain as we go through the sixth wave. At least fewer people are dying now. It is very contagious and I am very relieved we haven't caught it and we could have with so many people in our house in the last 10 days. 

That night I slept a bit better again. I am slowly catching up on all my lost sleep during this nightmare which is not yet over.

I was up at dawn on Friday.  Our unwelcome non paying lodger asked Lucy to open the gate which she did. That's when I went into his room, not to rummage in his stuff but to retrieve objects that belong to us and to which he has no right even to touch. That's when I saw he had a new kettle, new clothes and lots of food. Oh, so the man is not down and out, nor is he on the verge of suicide and he is planning to stay here for a while. 

We decided to go to the bank for the coveted certificate I needed for court and the police as more than 48 hours had passed. I found my bank employee, Marisa, outside smoking and ignoring us. As soon as she had finished we asked her for the certificate which she said hadn't arrived. As I had anticipated this, I had written a "to whom it may concern letter" for the bank to stamp, only to be told by Marisa that bank policies wouldn't allow her to stamp it! That is when I broke down for the 3rd time since all this has started. She seemed alarmed and funnily enough was able to produce a certificate 10 minutes later. So in order to get one I had to put on a show. I really have lost faith in so many Spanish institutions; banks, lawyers, police and the administration in general. Sluggish and unhelpful doesn't begin to describe them. 

After lunch we had a leak in the garden so had to switch off the water mains - how inconvenient for FT I thought. The leak looks like it will be with us for while too. We went to the police to report him for falsifying documents only to be told they were busy and we would have to wait 1.5 hours. Sluggish again you see. We would go back the next day.

That night we decided to dare it and to go out for dinner the two of us; something we haven't done for months and months. It was to be another breather for us both. We left the house with the alarm on and no water and I hoped this would inconvenience FT again. It was on Friday night that we all agreed to up our media campaign, this time to include the written press and even the glossy magazines. He has bounced back since we withdrew it so maybe now is the time to start again. 

Saturday dawned and we went back to the police station (Civil Guard) to file a report about FT falsifying documents (the bank receipts), for which I had needed the certificate from the bank. We left the house at 10 am and were not home until 13h. There was only one person in the queue ahead of us so that shows you  that the Guardia Civil are sluggish too. To become a civil guard you hardly need an education and that is very palpable when engaging with this police force. I have come to the conclusion that their main task and focus is giving out speeding fines. At least though we had filed the report which will now be included in FT's criminal record in Spain. No doubt he will leave the country before the court case but he will find it hard to return here.

I felt rather depressed for the rest of the day. We virtually spent the weekend alone with no company, not even Oli and the kids. The only thing that took my mind off our nightmare situation was watching a new series from the maker of Downton Abbey, Julian Fellowes, called The English Game. Loving it although I am not too keen on football. It is set in the third half of the 19th century a period of British history I am fascinated with. I suppose that is because it was the era when my grandparents were born. 

Today is Sunday and who knows what Felipe, previously referred to here as "he who shall not be named" will get up to. No doubt he will go out for coffee and lunch, luxuries we know now he can pay for. 

I have come to the end of this week's tales. Sadly my whole life is now on hold while Felipe Turover continues to sleep in the room next door. I can't wait for the time to come when I can report that he has either gone or been evicted but that won't be any time soon. Meanwhile, we shall battle on.

Thank you for your support,

Cheers Masha

Felipe Turover exposed, the "KGB operative" squatting in our own home and how he groomed and duped us. Revealed too Spanish laws that give squatters the upper hand and make it impossible to evict without breaking the law. Media pressure to highlight the injustice of the situation and our nightmare week.

 Sunday, 16th January, 2022.

Eladio and I on TV. Our faces have become very well known. We are known as Maria and Eladio

Our squatter. Photo courtesy of El País

Dear all,

I can hardly believe the story I am about to tell myself. We have a "KGB operative" living in our house and sleeping in the room next door. As someone wrote this week "reality surpasses fiction". It really does. I can hardly believe we are living this situation. The injustice and absurdity of  it is incomprehensible but so are the laws of this country. Frankly, Spain is a squatter's paradise. Our hands our tied - no, we cannot change the locks, no, we cannot kick him out, no, we cannot cut off the water. Basically there is  nothing we can do.  Why? Because Spanish law favours squatters. We have to wait for the court case which could take place in 6 months or more.  To get Felipe Turover evicted could take up to a year. He knows he has the upper hand and was even told so, according to him, by the Spanish Guardia Civil!!!!! We are desperate and when you are desperate you take desperate but legal measures. That is why we have resorted to media pressure, to get him to go, to highlight the case for it to be processed faster by the legal system, but also, my friends, to show the world that Spain has the strictest laws in the world when it comes to evicting a squatter.  This may well put off people from other countries wanting to buy property  here. The laws won't change any time soon with our socialist government in coalition with a communist party. But I hope this story which has reached all the corners of the earth this week, will at least focus on the injustice not just of our story and suffering but on Spain's ridiculous laws and sluggish legal system. The other option  would be to hire an eviction company to do the job. But they are sleazy and dangerous and I don't want them here. I will not go down that route. I have lived here for 40 years and love this country but am now angry and frustrated. When we rang the police to evict him on 19th November, nearly 2 months ago, we had no idea the law was against us.  He paid promptly from January to the end of September and his vacational contract expired on 1st December yet he is still here. We have lost earnings of 3.500 euros and paid 4.500 in legal fees. But it's not the money  and don't think we are rich. We just want him to go. Now comes the full story of our nightmare week.

But first let me introduce you to Felipe Turover. This man arrived at our house a year ago on 7th January, just before the famous snow storm hit Madrid.  He came through a vacation rental platform and seemed the perfect gentleman. He then asked to stay on with a verbal agreement.  I looked him up on Google just in case and did find lots of articles from 20 years ago that linked him to high politics in Russia. Most of them talked about his part in destroying the corruption of Yeltsin's government. There were references to him being linked to the  KGB but I had no proof. Plus I thought that if he had wanted to rid the country of corruption he must be one good Russian. So, he stayed on. He renewed his stay every 10 days and was a delight to host. He is cultured, has traveled widely and he seemed to be quite well off.  He wears expensive branded clothing, has the latest iPhone, wears an expensive watch and bought food from gourmet stores. We got on well with him. I even made Russian food for him - my famous "bitki" or "pelmeni".Everything was fine until the end of September. He paid that month and then proposed booking for one month instead of for 10 days so as to avoid anyone booking his room; something that had happened on occasion.  I agreed. Come the beginning of November the money didn't arrive. He made excuses which I believed. He then proposed paying me both October and November and the money didn't come either. Meanwhile my poor dear father was dying and I didn't think about him until later. I asked Felipe for bank receipts to prove the transfers and he gave me them. We took them to the bank, ours - La Caixa- who couldn't find the money and to his bank, BBVA. It was at this last where we were  told they were most probably false. Later we knew they were because both slips have the same operation number. He most probably prints them in his room. I read more about him after this and came up with articles from El País where he was described as a "compulsive liar". I could not agree more. 

We confronted Felipe Turover on 19th November and said if he didn't pay he had to go that very day. We did this in the company of our neighbours as we were frightened of him. Yes, he had behaved perfectly up till then but we didn't know how he would react. Thereby began our nightmare. 

Olivia reported him to the local court. We went there on the Sunday but the Judge refused to evict him saying the measure was too grave or serious for his freedom. By God! And what about our freedom? We can't even leave the house. We have to  leave separately so there is always one of us here. We can't even have our grandchildren to stay.  That is how we are living and we want our normal life back. 

However, that day, 19th November, a date I shall never forget, the Guardia Civil did get him to agree verbally that he would leave on the 24th November. That didn't happen. And he submitted us to psychological torture from then on with his excuses as to why he couldn't leave. From then on too the tension increased in our house and when he heard of our legal proceedings he wrote a threatening Whatsapp whereby there would be zero communication from then on. We decided to put the alarm on every night to control his movements, put in a lock on our door and some cameras.  He avoided us as we avoided him. It annoyed me that he was using our kitchen so we put a camera in there too.

Meanwhile, someone sent me a link to the book I wrote about last week, Putin's People - book of the year in the UK by The Times, The Telegraph, The Economist and The Financial Times. In it, FT (Felipe Turover) is described as a KGB operative and someone who helped Putin reach power when Putin was the vice mayor of St. Petersburg. We read that he had been threatened later  by the current "Tsar"  (FT's words) who ordered him to leave the country otherwise he would be "liquidated". What we don't know is why he fell out of favour with Putin. That frightens us. Since then we know that he hid in Switzerland, in the Alps for more than 10 years. It seems he came to Spain because his father Enrique Turover was not well and he had to look after him.

The book where Felipe Turover is called a KGB operative

(You might be interested to know his father is an academic who wrote the definitive Spanish Russian dictionary and was the interpreter for people like Brezhnev, Gorbachev and even the former King of Spain. We have also learned that Enrique Turrover, now aged 89 and living in a care home on the outskirts of Madrid, was given Spanish nationality by the government for his merits. Thus his son, FT, got Spanish nationality too. He also has an Israeli passport either through his mother or Father, one of whom was or is Jewish) as well as a Russian one.

Thus, when I read that he is a " KGB operative" that is when I got worried. The book is written by Catherine Belton, the former Moscow correspondent for the FT  who now works for Reuters. For the book which took her 7 years to write she came to Boadilla del Monte, near where we live, to interview FT.  Below is an extract  of an interview with her where she describes talking to FT.   It is interesting to note that Catherine Belton has  a degree in Russian politics so I do not doubt her word. But I do doubt FT's word. Obviously I do after all his lies. This is what she said about him: 

"What did you discover that was new?

I was able to track down Felipe Turover, a KGB operative who played a key role in the scandal that brought Putin to power as the whistleblower who revealed the Yeltsin Family was given credit cards by a Swiss company reconstructing the Kremlin. He’d been quite high level operator who also happened to know Putin and worked with him in the early 1990s on the oil for food deals in St Petersburg. His explanation added a greater element to understanding how the Putin regime operates. Everyone knows that in Putin’s St Petersburg oil-for-food deals the scandal centred around crony companies appointed to handle commodity exports who were able to keep the cash (rather than import food). But Turover’s explanation of the deals showed they were not just about corruption, but more strategic: Putin was handing out export licences to people he knew, very often connected via the KGB, because the city needed to create a hard currency slush fund to pay off debts to pay for equipment for vital infrastructure and to maintain intelligence networks abroad. Turover added a strategic dimension to what we’d come to know as pure kleptocracy. Putin and his allies were not just lining their pockets but siphoning off funds for more strategic ends. It became apparent how Russia under the current Putin regime continues to run in much the same way: Putin has parcelled out the country’s economy and its cash flows to a tight network of loyal allies who run these sectors of the country and divert funds to the Kremlin, sometimes to help win elections, run propaganda, and more recently to seek to boost Russia’s geopolitical stature by undercutting rivals and undermining western democracy."

You can read the full interview with her  here.

After learning this and having begun legal proceedings, for a couple of months we stayed quiet waiting for our appeals to justice to bear their fruits. But it is all so slow and we knew we had to take further steps. 

So when about two weeks ago, El Pais - Spain's top daily - got in touch with us after I appealed to a journalist I know there I decided to tell our story.  The journalist, assigned to the story  Fernando, was extremely interested in it and who this FT was. He came to our home to interview us and hoped to see FT too. He then went on to do a very thorough investigation as his paper could hardly believe the story. I mean it has all the ingredients of a film rather than real life. Was  the man in our house really the Felipe Turover described in Catherine Belton's book? We met Fernando and told him our story in great detail. In it we described this man's endless lies - he had been vaccinated against Covid in January 21 (impossible in Spain at that time for someone his age), his father was a Spaniard who as a child had been sent to Russia to escape the Spanish Civil war (later Fernando found out this was not true), that he had said he never married nor had a child (not true, he married a woman called Rosa in Russia. She was the daughter of a Spanish woman, Dolores who was sent to Russia to escape the Civil War. He also has a son called Antosha (Antonio). His other lies of course were about paying us; the false bank receipts. I have also learned since then that he hasn't paid the storage rental company, "Blue Space" and has lost most of his belongings. Now he has just a few suitcases in "his room".  We also found out that the car rental company, "Opción Car" had been duped too and that he owes the company 1200 euros. Not only that  he had bumped and damaged two of the company's cars. The owner Diego told me he had given him similar false bank receipts. So he wasn't only duping us. 

Being a good journalist and wanting to protect us, Fernando wrote to FT on the pretext of talking about his role in Russian politics as described in the book Putin's People. FT took the bait and was keen to be interviewed and they met at a fancy hotel in Madrid. He took along a woman we presumed to be his girlfriend, who he presented as his press rep!!!! Another big lie. Fernando also went to his father's house which FT told me he had sold just before he came to stay. Fernando found out it had been sold a year earlier. He  was able to talk to neighbours who remembered him well and to the current owner. She described him as a "womaniser". He is I know because he used to try and flirt with my daughter Suzy who frankly left our house to live in the provinces so as not to be anywhere near him. Fernando came away with information that revealed that FT was on a debtors' list and that the proceeds of the house went to the people he owed money to. With all the information F (the journalist)  got to prove and expose Felipe Turover for the conman we are now sure he is. No doubt FT was furious he had been exposed and that the paper now also knew he had been squatting at our place. We also know through the police that he has done it before at another home.  We would love to know where so as to find out how they got rid of him. 

The article was published this last Monday 10th January and you can read it here. You will be shocked at what you read. 

Two whole pages on this story which was published on Monday 10th January

Of course our names and picture was now there for the world to see. I figure as Maria which is my birth name.  Anyone who knows me and saw the article and anything else that was published later, would know it was me but not the general public.

Our photo for the El Pais article. Courtesy of the newspaper

FT's  name is now name shamed, he has no girlfriend or car and and has even lost his keys. I feel like his jailer. No doubt he has no friends left either as anyone in his circle will now know exactly who FT is. Not a nice situation for him but then again it is even worse for us. I feel no remorse for him being exposed. 

There has been a lot of talk and questioning about whether FT really is or was a " KGB operative" . Of course he will deny it. I mean a spy is not going to say he is or was a spy. But I believe Catherine Belton. She wouldn't have written it if she wasn't sure.

That Monday morning I had to be at the hospital for pre op tests for my knee operation. I had to go back again for a pre op PCR test on Wednesday and on Thursday be operated. With all the developments I had to cancel Thursday's operation. This man has interrupted our lives so. This nightmare, especially this week, has had a huge toll on me. I can't sleep and I am a nervous wreck. Meanwhile he continues to live here and there is nothing I can do. 

You might want to know why we let El País reveal the whole story. Well you have your answer at the beginning of this post. If the law can't help us and we have to wait months or years, we need to showcase this story. Don't think we like doing this. We hate it but we don't have many other tools. No doubt FT didn't realise that when he came to squat here he would come to the house of someone who is a communications director and whose daughter is a TV journalist capable of creating so much media hype. 

Of course the El País article was read by many and Olivia, my TV reporter daughter who has been a brick throughout, has been heavily involved. She is almost our spokesperson - well she does speak so well.  From Monday to Saturday we have had TV cameras from all of Spain's main TV stations, including her own, here the whole time while he is entrenched in his room. 

Last Sunday, after we had put a camera in the kitchen, linked to my phone, I told him he could no longer use the kitchen nor anywhere else in the house, just the room; not even the garden! That's because our contract which is verbal and which has now expired, does not mention anywhere that he has the right to use anything apart from the room. He stayed there most of the day. TV reporters began knocking on his door but he refused to come out. You can see this happening in a short video I took here. 

After this incident of calling on his door he sent me a threatening message to say if anymore TVs did the same  he would call the police as what I was doing was illegal. I didn't answer. Here was the squatter telling us we were doing something illegal. For God's sake. More knocked on the door but the police did not come. We had him cornered media wise. 

The house was full of TV station cameras and crew. Oli was managing it all and both Elado and I, together or alone were being taped or interviewed live or for later use.  I understand this world and have been on TV many times, but never as the protagonist. It's very stressful. 

Meanwhile, I decided to try to showcase our story in the British press. After all this was happening to a British born woman and I wanted international coverage to show the injustice of Spanish squatting laws. We have all heard of squatters taking over an empty house; bad enough, but having one in your own house and in the room next door is just not on. It's not tolerable. I got in touch with the Madrid correspondents of The Guardian, The BBC and The Times. The Telegraph had picked up El País' story already which can read  here. David from the The Times was very sympathetic and on Friday 14th published an article which you can read here as it is open to non subscribers. 

Thanks David for the article in The Times

I was pleased of course but wanted more. I asked David for a contact who might cover the UK tabloids in Madrid and he gave me the name of the Daily Mail European correspondent. Shortly afterwards The Mail Online published the story. There are many comments after the article. I particularly like this one:

 "I checked this Turover on the wibbly wobbly Web, and he is or was well entrenched in the vast money grabs in Russia when the soviet Union collapsed. And indeed he did grass up old putin, and having his name and address splashed over the press and media was not his brightest decision in my book"

I think that he has put it in a nutshell. FT has been exposed  and now the whole world knows who he is. No wonder he is entrenched in his room. 

Later David told me that The Mail had stole his story and that journalism in Fleet Street is not what it was. He admitted though: "Anyway, mailonline is a beast, the world's most read "news" site, so now the whole world knows about your situation". Oh my God I thought. On a more lighter note this week he commented to me: "What an extraordinary story - look on the bright side, out of this current nightmare may yet emerge a rather good film - with you played by Joanna Lumley". Many people this week have said it would make a good film for Netflix. Eladio keeps describing our situation to the press as "living with the enemy" , the name of another film. He is right. 

For the whole week we were on and off TV and exhausted. I don't think FT really realised our power when it comes to contacting the media. No doubt he thought he was duping a retired couple. But he was duping a family with members - Oli and I - who know how the media works. I really hope now he regrets having chosen our house to squat in or us as a couple to groom and dupe. Now he has to face the music. 

Our media circus

Our image is everywhere and we are exhausted from so many TV interventions

More exhausted was our squatter. On Tuesday afternoon he actually left the house - he must have been desperate with no food or drink or cigarettes - and of course the cameras caught him. Oli caught him too. She found he was carrying a bag with medicines and 4 bottles of wine.  He got cross and called the police. Would you believe they escorted him to his room?  One of them went up to talk to him and came down to say he had "promised" he would leave the next day, Wednesday noon. Of course he didn't. The policeman said he would come back at that time but he rang the night before to say he wouldn't and that we should call him if FT leaves. You see how abandoned we feel by the forces of law in this country? It seems their hands are tied too without a judge's order. It is completely absurd.

Wednesday was the worst day when things came to a climax.  We had hoped he would go at noon as he had said to the policeman.  He remained in his room where he had been for a day and a night. We and the TV crews heard loud noises in his room; very loud ones. I imagined he was trashing the room. Oli called the police as I really thought he might even be committing suicide. They came but told us no one could go in his room, not even them. For God's sake Spanish laws are laughable. But they did go in when he called out for help or moaned inside. The police saw the TV cameras and shooed them away but Eladio stood up to them. I have never seen him so cross. He said he was the owner and he would decide who comes into his house and who films what. The policeman later apologised. Remarkable.

So what did they find? A  semi unconscious man with booze and tablets everywhere. The police said he hadn't trashed the room. Later FT himself showed me the bathroom where I could see he had broken the wall. I was furious. I was also furious to see the mess it was in. He allowed me in so I could take photos. My friend Amanda said I would probably have to gut the bathroom when he eventually goes. 

What I saw in the bathroom

Later he took his rubbish to the container and as it is no longer his I was able to take a photo. This is the cocktail of wine, whisky and tablets I found (Stillnox, lexatin and tramadol).

This was what was in his rubbish 

When I saw it I wondered if he had tried to commit suicide. I asked a friend, Mari Carmen, who is a pharmacist and she told me that most certainly this amount would have been enough but we don't know how much he took. Olivia and her partner Miguel are convinced it was just another show. I don't know. 

Soon the paramedics were there and eventually they took him off in an ambulance. The cameras caught him being escorted and leaving. It was a ghastly situation for us. Really ghastly. 

FT leaving in an ambulance

So he had gone but would be back but we didn't know when. There was no rest for the wicked and by then there was so much media interest we were one of the main topics on many news programmes.  The TVs left late but  I wasn't able to rest. I just couldn't sleep. 

Thursday morning was the most worrying of the week. Eladio had gone with Lucy to take Elliot to school and Lucy for an appointment. I was on my own. At 7.30 am he appeared at the gate having come by taxi. He paid for it by credit card!!!! So he must have some funds. He had lost his keys and no way was I giving him another set and we won't unless a judge orders it. He told me he would be leaving that day at 12. Was it another lie? In any case Oli alerted the TVs and they came again to see if he would really leave and catch him on camera.  I then went into my room, locked the door with a key and put the alarm on. Shortly afterwards it went off. It was him. He wanted to go out as a taxi had come to bring him something. I caught that on camera too. The taxi had brought him cigarettes and again he paid by credit card. 

The taxi that came to bring him cigarettes

As I escorted him to his room where he let me in (me alone with him in his room - how scary), he told me he would leave that day at 12. I asked him why he had got drunk, he said he hadn't - come on - but promised to go. This time I really thought he would. The TV cameras were all there waiting. By 12.15 I lost my patience. I knocked on his door and asked him to come out and talk to me. All of this was being filmed. He saw the TVs and closed the door again. That is when I turned round to the cameras to describe my situation. I then broke down. I had an anxiety attack, the first in my life. I told the cameras not to film it and I hope they didn't. There I was trembling from head to toe and hanging on to the reporter from Antena 3. Up came Olivia and Eladio to comfort me and make me calm down. I was so bad my daughter wanted to call an ambulance. I didn't want that but I did talk to my GP and she has prescribed pills for anxiety and has also written a medical report which we hope our lawyer can use if the case ever comes to court. I am a strong woman but can only take so much as I'm sure you understand. 

The interviews continued despite my panic attack - I must say I felt relieved afterwards and they did not finish until past 10.30 pm. During this time he stayed in his room. He did call me (every time he calls we tape it) to say with a drowsy voice he meant 2 and not 12 but that he was trying to go and would leave that day. He didn't obviously. The last interview was with a right wing minor TV channel 13 TV, a programme called "Gato al Agua" who treat us so kindly. 

Interview with 13 TV

They have been here twice. I was very proud of my 77 year old philosophy professor husband Eladio who spoke just as someone of his category can. He said things like "Is the law made for man or is man made for the law?". You can see the interview here. 

Friday came and that day we were joined by Eladio's brother, José Antonio and his wife, Dolores. They have been following events with great worry and are concerned for our health and well being. It was great to have them there. He, FT, had been in his room since 10 am on Thursday and I imagined he didn't have much food. We had more interviews both with radios and TVs. One was with La Sexta - that left wing channel which had treated us rather badly the day before. They wanted to come again to make amends. That is unheard of. The reporter told us it was the director of the programme "Mas Vale tarde" who wanted to do another interview with us, not the more aggressive presenter. I never watch any of these TV programmes, most of them are pretty rubbish and sensational. I do not respect them  but have to say they have  big audiences. I also have to say apart from the La Sexta presenter, everyone has been a brick and very sympathetic. By Wednesday I had set up a bar for them all in our kitchen. They told me they were grateful as they were used to sitting outside in the cold. Not at our house. They are all extremely welcome and I am grateful to them for echoing our case. 

The interview went well this time. I think it was at about 8 pm. All the journalists had tried to speak to him by knocking on the door. Incredibly, FT, who had been in his room by them for nearly 40 hours, came out and spoke. He said he wanted a walk in the garden. I refused and he went back into his room. He then said he wanted to go to the street and I had to acquiesce. The camera followed along with Oli who taped it to send to the other TVs. He only replied to one question; was he an ex KGB spy? He laughed and said that was impossible as when the KGB was disbanded he was only 17. You see he has lied again. He was born in 1964 ( I have a copy of his Spanish ID card) and was 27 when the Russian spy organisation was closed. In any case it didn't close, it just changed its name and still today, we in the west refer to it as the KGB.

That whole episode provoked another panic attack and I went into my room sobbing and trembling. Oli was concerned of course as was my husband. Thankfully there were no cameras by then. Once I had got over it I went down to join the family. It was then that FT rang me again! Oh God I hate him calling me. He said he had heard me cry and was concerned. Concerned, the man who is making my life a torture? 

Saturday came and although there were would be fewer cameras, I still wasn't at ease. Who could be? Oli came and taped us for the midday news on Telecinco and Antena 3. A3 news has the biggest audience in Spain and there we were again on TV. I only caught the tail end of it. When is this going to end.?

On TV again yesterday

I decided yesterday morning that I would try to talk to him to reason with him and I did. I had 3 long conversations but cannot reveal any of the content as we have yet to digest it. The day was not stress free because of me having to face him personally. My family think he tries to manipulate me emotionally, to feel sorry for him. Is he playing with me again? Maybe. He told me he would leave on Monday morning come what may. I cannot believe him now.

Yesterday, finally, I left the house after days stuck at home with this media circus. There was nothing left in our cupboards and it was with great hurry Oli and I bought food for the coming week. With all this on my mind I had completely forgotten our dinner with my dear friend Julio that night. Originally we were going to his place but as you know now we cannot leave the house. He arrived with a load full of wonderful food and there I was in my dressing gown not having remembered. How could I remember with all this going on? However, he completely cheered us up and we had a great night, trying not to talk too much about our nightmare week. Julio did us the world of good.

Today is Sunday and yes more TVs are coming. FT called me to ask me to open the gate. I told him more cameras were coming tomorrow and please will he leave. Again he said yes; well, not really - adding "I'm 90% sure I'm leaving". I have lost my patience. But as you know, I shall carry on until we win this battle or rather this war. As Sir Winston said; "if you are going through Hell, keep going". Keep going I will.

More from me next week. Cheers till then,

Yours and truly, Masha (alias Maria)