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Juana Madrid reacts during a sit-in protest inside the IVIMA (Madrid Housing Institute) office in Madrid, Dec. 13, 2012, an attempt at a last-minute reprieve from her family’s eviction notice, due to be enforced Dec. 14. An estimated 400,000 people have been evicted since the country’s economic downturn began in 2008.Juan Medina/Reuters

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Juana Madrid closes her tent outside the IVIMA office in Madrid Dec. 13. She camped outside the office on Wednesday before joining the sit-in inside with members of protest group PAH (Mortgage Victims Platform).Juan Medina/Reuters

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Juana Madrid is comforted by her daughter Juana during the protest inside the IVIMA offices. Many areas of Spain are struggling with austerity measures and record unemployment in a double-dip recession.Juan Medina/Reuters

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Protesters take part in a demonstration in central Madrid Dec. 13 against budget cuts and educational reforms proposed by Spain’s Education Minister Jose Ignacio Wert.Susana Vera/Reuters

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Protesters angry about cuts to public education march during the demonstration in Madrid Dec. 13. A day earlier, thousands of Spanish medical workers and residents marched through parts of the city to protest budget cuts to the national health service.Susana Vera/Reuters

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Members of the pensioner association Yayoflautas knit during a sit-in protest in support of Juana Madrid inside the IVIMA office in Madrid, Dec. 13.Andrea Comas/Reuters

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Members of Yayoflautas also take part in a protest, against tax fraud and corruption, inside a tax office in Madrid, Dec. 13. At least three suicides in Spain have been blamed on eviction orders.Andrea Comas/Reuters

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An activist of the Marea Verde (Green Tide) movement plays a horn as he stops traffic on a main street in downtown Malaga, during a protest against cuts and educational reforms Dec. 13.Jon Nazca/Reuters

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A street performer dressed as a bullfighter prepares to perform a pass on a toy bull after a woman, right, gave him a coin in downtown Malaga Dec. 13. With unemployment as high as 25 per cent in some areas, some unemployed have turned to performing for cash on the streets.Jon Nazca/Reuters

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Activists belonging to the Marea Verde group stop traffic on a main street in downtown Malaga Dec. 13.Jon Nazca/Reuters

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Juana Madrid, right, is comforted by her daughter Isabel during the sit-in protest inside the IVIMA office.Andrea Comas/Reuters

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