Photos: How do you picture Spain

When you think of Spain, you may picture this:

Or this:

Or this:

What you normally don't picture is a populace fighting for its future just as much as the peoples of Greece, Ireland and Portugal are. Spain is a nation with an unemployment rate around 21.29%. And due to US news coverage of events abroad being so poor, one would never know of the Spanish people protesting their government, ECB and IMF as they fight for a stake in their future. (All photos from mid June, 2011):

Or this...

Or this...

Spain is the 12th largest economy in the world, the size of Greece, Portugal and Ireland's economies combined.  It is large enough that if its economy crumbles, the rest of the EU will not have enough euros to bail it out.    The youth unemployment rate has consistently held above 40%.

The protesters, feeling part of a "lost generation" share a strong rejection of Spanish politicians, the current two-party system in Spain and firmly support what they call basic rights: home, work, culture, health and education.