The US newspaper "The Washington Post" devoted much of its front page today to the protests being held in Madrid's Puerta del Sol, where thousands of people have gathered demanding "Real Democracia Ya" (True Democracy Now).

"The Washington Post" refers to the demonstrations, that have now have spread across the country to Sevilla, Granada and Valencia amongst many other places, encouraged by youth groups and social media campaigns, as a "Spanish revolution".

The Madrid electoral board banned demonstrations, but thousands defied the prohibition, setting up camp in the square, with more people arriving each day.

Though riot police have been deployed in some cities, they have not intervened in the protests. Simon Hunter at the Spanish newspaper El País reported that the Cadiz mayor has said, “If they're demonstrations are independent, they have every right to be there.”

The recession in Spain, which has deepened over the past year, is the reason so many young (and not so young) people have taken to the streets in peaceful protest. Spain has an unemployment rate of 21%. Around 4.9 million people are without jobs.

The protesters contend that the country has deteriorated because of corrupt politicians and bankers. Bloomberg reports that a manifesto in Puerta del Sol states politicians facing corruption charges should be barred from running for election; the Senate, the upper house of Parliament, should be scrapped; and the voting system should be changed to make it more representative.

Another influential American newspaper, "The New York Times", has also published a blog in the electronic edition of its paper, calling the protests the "15-M movement".  The article contains links to a number of YouTube videos, one of them under the banner: "España toman (sic) la calle por una verdadera democracia. De Oviedo a Cádiz de Vigo a Barcelona".

US TV channel, CNN, has also dedicated a number of its blog pages to the demonstrations, and in particular the one at Madrid's Puerta del Sol.