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Protests in Madrid. The focus? Spain's high unemployment rate. And the political and financial system they say is to blame.

'The economy and unemployment are key to the protest, because that binds all of us together. In this crisis, while some have gotten rich, most people have less income.'

Spain has an unemployment rate of 21%, the highest in the eurozone. There are a record 4.9 million people out of work.

For the past few years, as Spain's rate of unemployment remained tenaciously high, most of the protests here were organized by Spain's big trade unions. But now a grassroots anger seems to be emerging, fueled by social networks.

Elena Ortega, a part-time secretary, says she helps spread the word on Facebook about the protests.

"If this is happening, it is because the unions were not doing what was needed, when it was needed. They have not delivered." Her son next to her, is a case in point. He's been looking for steady work for four years.

'Forty percent of our young people are unemployed and do not have a chance.'

Outside this courthouse, demonstrators also showed support for 19 people arrested in earlier protests. The protests are getting a lot of media attention before local and regional elections across Spain on Sunday.

This economist says the movement doesn't appear to be linked to the unions or political parties, the traditional protest heavyweights.

'I think we don't know what we are seeing. I mean, this is the very beginning of a new movement. And I don't expect it to become a very large social response or protest against the unemployment perspective in Spain.'

But several thousand protesters returned that evening to Madrid's central Puerta del Sol Plaza where the protest had started last weekend. They again set up an encampment after police dismantled their first one. They vowed to stay highly visible here, and in other Spanish cities at least until the elections on Sunday.

Al Goodman, cnn, Madrid.