Families in recession-hit nation told to renew burial leases or have the remains of the dead moved from a cemetery.

At a cemetery in Zaragoza, Spain, the threat of eviction has followed the dead to their final resting place.

After two years of recession and unemployment above 20 per cent, the families of the deceased are being confronted with eviction notices on the tombstones of their loved ones.

The families are told to pay for the burial leases, renewed every five years, or have the remains of the deceased moved to common ground. A fate that has befallen over 400 people in recent months.

Combined with financial hardships, the threat of eviction is pushing more families towards cremation rather than paying the upkeep for a traditional burial or crypt.

Al Jazeera’s Tarek Bazley reports.