More Than 300 People Injured in Violent Clashes in Catalonia

(BARCELONA) — Spanish riot police smashed their way into polling stations in Catalonia and fired rubber bullets Sunday at protesters outside one Barcelona polling station to try to halt a disputed independence referendum. Nearly 350 people, including some police, were injured in the melee, officials said. The officers fired the rubber bullets while trying to clear protesters who were trying to prevent National Police cars from leaving after police had confiscated ballot boxes from the voting center. The Spanish government has ordered police to stop the voting process in Catalonia, saying it’s illegal. The chaotic confrontations led to a war of words as each side blamed the other for the deteriorating situation. “Police brutality will shame forever the Spanish state,” Catalan President Carles Puigdemont said as crowds cheered. Top Spanish officials defended the police actions. Police acted with “firmness and proportionality,” declared Spanish deputy prime minister Soraya Saenz de Santamaria, adding that authorities weren’t going after voters but referendum material. She accused the Catalan government of gross irresponsibility in staging the vote. “There hasn’t been a referendum or the semblance of one,” she said. Tensions have been on the rise since the vote was called in early September, crystalizing years of defiance by separatists in the affluent region, which contributes mightily to Spain’s economy. As one ...
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