Spain grew 0.3% in Q4 2013, but unemployment ticked higher to 26.03%, from 25.98% the previous quarter.
Soaring unemployment and a housing bust have caused a surge in evictions as borrowers are unable to pay their mortgages. We've previously talked about the ongoing eviction crisis in Spain.
In southern Madrid gangs reportedly scout around for abandoned real estate and then pose as fake landlords. But with the help of anti-eviction activists, some have started moving into abandoned buildings.
Reuters reports that nine families that had been evicted, occupied a building in Alovera, north of Madrid, that had been abandoned since 2008. Anti-eviction activists went public with the occupation of the building last year.
Susana Vera at Reuters visited the abandoned building to see what life is like.
Mohssin El Molahed welds a door shut in the courtyard of an occupied building.
Noelia Cabrera and her daughter live in the building now. Cabrera, a single mother, lost her job at a courier company in 2011.
Abdell Bouchmal who now lives in the building became wheelchair-bound after a car accident on his way home from work three years ago. He receives 600 a month from the state.
Yasmina Idider lives in the building with her husband and three children. Her family moved in right before they were about to be evicted. Idider's husband, Mohssin El Molahed, suffered a work-related accident in 2009 that left him with a disability, but he doesn't receive any state aid.
Anti-eviction activists hang out by the abandoned pool.
Anti-eviction activists play soccer in a the paddle court after going public with the occupation of an empty building in Alovera.
SEE ALSO: 6 Heartbreaking Images From The Massive Eviction Crisis In Spain