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Fierce clashes in Barcelona as pro-independence demonstrators & police face off (VIDEOS)
Chaotic scenes have played out in downtown Barcelona after supporters of jailed Catalonia independence leaders set off towards national police HQ, throwing projectiles at riot officers, who responded with batons and foam bullets.
Around 10,000 people swarmed the streets of Barcelona, the capital of Span’s autonomous region, on Saturday, in a pro-independence protest called by CDR (Committees for the Defence of the Republic).
The demonstrators set to march towards the National Police Headquarters, but were met by hundreds of police in full riot gear. The protest, that began around 7.30pm local time, quickly turned violent as demonstrators began hurling various objects, such as eggs, plastic balls and rocks at police armed with batons and shields.
As tensions flared up, Catalan Autonomous Police, Mossos de Escuadra, moved to disperse the crowd in Vía Laietana, a major thoroughfare popular with tourists, where the national police HQ is located.
Footage from the scene show several riot vans cutting through the crowd to the loud boos from the demonstrators in what some pro-independence activists denounced as a provocation by law enforcement.
In a strange move 5 police Spanish vans try to provoke the demonstrators in Barcelona. What are they doing inside the rally with vans? pic.twitter.com/cm06TbZUJS
— Help Catalonia
