Members of the local Catalan police force were visibly moved to tears as they guarded protesters in the small town of Vielha on the French border amid scenes of violence across the region as it votes on independence from Spain.

Barcelona’s mayor says at least 460 people have been injured during violence while members of the Civil Guard, the Spanish military police, fired rubber bullets and used batons in an attempt to stop them voting in an independence referendum.

Witnesses say police were spotted beating and dragging people out of polling stations as they went to vote.

But members of the Mossos d'Esquadra, the local, autonomous Catalan police, have moved to protect the citizens from the violence.

Footage from the small town shows Catalans chanting and cheering behind a row of officers as two of the men become emotional.

One is seen wiping a tear from his eye and another buries his face in his hand to weep.

Like the other Spanish police forces the Mossos were told to shut down the polling stations early on Sunday and remove anyone who tries to sleep in the overnight, the New York Times reported.

The force, one of many Policia Local forces in each Spanish region, has found itself caught in the crossfire in recent months as the row between Barcelona and Madrid intensified.

Catalan firefighters protect public against police in Barcelona

A former director of the Mossos, Albert Batlle, was forced to resign in July after he was criticised by some separatists for refusing to publicly endorse Catalan independence.

The Catalan President, Carles Puigdemont, accused Spanish authorities of using “unjustified, disproportionate and irresponsible” violence in its crackdown on the region's independence referendum.

Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters Show all 17 1 /17 Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters A man faces off Spanish Civil Guards outside a polling station in Sant Julia de Ramis Reuters Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters Riot police form a security cordon around the Ramon Llull school in Barcelona EPA Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters Riot police evict a young woman during clashes between people gathered outside the Ramon Llull school in Barcelona EPA Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters Spanish Civil Guard officers break through a door at a polling station in Sant Julia de Ramis Reuters Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters Spanish National Police clash with pro-referendum supporters in Barcelona on Sunday AP Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters Crowds raise their arms up as police move in on members of the public gathered outside to prevent them from voting in the referendum at a polling station where the President Carles Puigdemunt will vote later today Getty Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters People confront Spanish Civil Guard officers outside a polling station Reuters Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters Three man hold each other as they try to block a Spanish police van from approaching a polling station AP Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters A woman shows a ballot to a Spanish Civil Guard officer outside a polling station Reuters Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters A man wearing a shirt with an Estelada (Catalan separatist flag) and holding carnations faces off with a Spanish Civil Guard officer Reuters Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters Police try to control the area as people attempt to cast their ballot at a polling station in Barcelona Getty Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters A man is grabbed by officers as police move in on the crowds Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters Two women argue with a Spanish National policeman during clashes between Catalan pro-independence people and police forces at the Sant Julia de Ramis sports centre in Girona EPA Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters Sant Julia De Ramis in Spain Getty Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters Confrontation outside a polling station in Barcelona, where police have tried to stop people voting AFP/Getty Images Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters A Spanish National Police officer aims a rubber-bullet rifle at pro-referendum supporters in Barcelona AP Catalonia independence referendum: Riot police clash with voters Riot police clashed with voters as polls opened in Barcelona Sky News

But Spanish deputy Prime Minister Soraya Saenz de Santamaria said the police were following the orders of the Constitutional Court in Madrid which declared the referendum illegal.

The call for a referendum on Catalan independence has grown stronger in the past five years after the country emerged from a brutal recession.

The wealthy region, which is home to 16 per cent of Spain’s population but generates 19 per cent of its GDP, has begun to gripe at economically supporting other regions of the country.

But the fight over Catalan independence has been raging for generations.

Spain is made up of a number of different kingdoms which were absorbed into one country in the 16th century.

As a result every region maintains its own, unique regional identity but none more so than Catalonia and the nearby Basque country.