Spanish police cracked down on polling stations as voting began in Catalonia’s banned referendum on independence.
Footage and images on social media showed the authorities pushing, shoving and kicking people, some of whom were bloodied. One image showed an elderly woman being dragged by two police officers, and another showed a man being escorted by police with his shirt ripped and soaked in blood.
Catalan television showed riot police arriving to one polling station in downtown Barcelona at around 8.45am local time, 15 minutes before polling opened. They ordered voters to leave, as crowds shouted: “Out the way, we will vote.”
Police blocked access to the public school building, where the polling was taking place, and removed the ballot boxes.
Enric Millo, the Spanish government’s representative in Catalonia, said in a televised statement that the referendum has been “dismantled”.
“The National Police and the Civil Guard had to act. The Catalan police have put their political criteria ahead of the professional criteria,” he said in a televised statement. “We had to do what we didn’t want to.”
Police burst into a polling station, in a town in Girona province, minutes before Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont was due to vote there, reported Reuters.
They shattered glass panels to force open the door as voters, fists in the air, sang the Catalan anthem.
The referendum, which was declared illegal by Spain's central government, has raised fears of street violence as a test of will between Madrid and Barcelona plays out.
The Catalan government had scheduled voting to open at 9am at around 2,300 designated stations, but Madrid said on Saturday it had shut more than half of them.
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Spanish Civil Guard officers disperse people outside a polling station for the banned independence referendum in Sant Julia de Ramis, Spain, October 1, 2017. REUTERS/Albert Gea TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY -
Spanish Civil Guard officer pushes a man outside a polling station for the banned independence referendum in Sant Julia de Ramis, Spain, October 1, 2017. REUTERS/Albert Gea -
A woman is grabbed by riot police near a a polling station for the banned independence referendum in Barcelona, Spain, October 1, 2017. REUTERS/Enrique Calvo -
Spanish Civil Guard officers break through a door at a polling station for the banned independence referendum where Catalan President Carles Puigdemont was expected to vote. Juan Medina / Reuters -
Scuffles break out as Spanish Civil Guard officers force their way through a crowd and into a polling station for the banned independence referendum in Spain. Juan Medina / Reuters -
Scuffles break out between a crowd and Spanish Civil Guard officers, outside a polling station for the banned independence referendum in Spain. Albert Gea / Reuters -
A man is dragged away, after scuffles broke out with Spanish Civil Guard officers, outside a polling station for the banned independence referendum in Sant Julia de Ramis, Spain. Albert Gea / Reuters -
A man holds ballots at a polling station for the banned independence referendum in Barcelona, Spain. Yves Herman / Reuters -
A man raises his arms in front of Spanish police after the seizure of ballot boxes in a polling station in Barcelona, Spain. Pau Barrena / AFP Photo -
Spanish police seize ballot boxes in a polling station in Barcelona, on the day of a referendum on independence for Catalonia banned by Madrid. Pau Barrena / AFP Photo -
A man holds ballots at a polling station for the banned independence referendum in Barcelona, Spain. Yves Herman / Reuters -
People react at a polling station for the banned independence referendum in Barcelona, Spain. Yves Herman / Reuters -
A man struggles with police as more than five million eligible voters are expected to visit polling stations for Catalonia's referendum on independence from Spain. David Ramos /Getty Images -
Spanish police clear the entrance of a polling station in Barcelona on the day of a referendum on independence for Catalonia from Spain. Pau Barrena / AFP Photo -
Spanish Civil Guard officers remove demonstrators outside a polling station for the banned independence referendum in Barcelona, Spain. Susana Vera / Reuters
Voting started at some sites in the region of 7.5 million people, which has its own language and culture and is an industrial hub with an economy larger than that of Portugal.
Leader Puigdemont changed plans and voted at a different station after the police action, the regional government said.
People had occupied some stations with the aim of preventing police from locking them down. Organisers smuggled in ballot boxes before dawn and urged voters to use passive resistance against police.
In a school used in a voting station in Barcelona, police in riot gear carried out ballot boxes while would-be voters chanted "out with the occupying forces!" and "we will vote!".
The Catalan government said voters could print out ballot papers at home and lodge them at any polling station not closed down by police.
