Chaotic scenes played out in downtown Barcelona after supporters of jailed Catalonia independence leaders set off towards the 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 Spain’s autonomous region, on Saturday, in a pro-independence protest called by the CDR (Committees for the Defense of the Republic).

The demonstrators set off to march towards the National Police headquarters, but were met by hundreds of police in full riot gear. The protest, which began around 7:30pm local time, quickly turned violent as demonstrators began hurling objects such as eggs, plastic balls, and rocks at police armed with batons and shields.

As tensions flared up, the Catalan Autonomous Police, the Mossos d’Esquadra, 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 shows several riot vans cutting through the crowd to the loud boos of 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 🎗 (@CataloniaHelp1) October 26, 2019

Barcelona tonight: A clear provocation - police has no need to drive their vans right through the a crowd of protesters already fuming at police repression pic.twitter.com/ZVXhZWEIVG — Jorge Martin (@marxistJorge) October 26, 2019



Another video shows protesters ganging up on police vehicles, bombarding them with flares and plastic objects while chanting pro-independence slogans.

Ara enviaria l’home del vídeos del Mondúber a més d’una casa “progressista” i que els diguera “això no és Xile, açò és Barcelona” pic.twitter.com/PYGNVxyBI6 — arnau~ (@arnauaim) October 26, 2019

Protesters used trash to erect barricades in the streets, and set them on fire to stop police from moving in. A video emerged showing firefighters putting out fires on Pau Claris.

Several videos that show police charging at demonstrators with batons after they verbally confronted them sparked accusations of police brutality

The Police, winning hearts and minds tonight in Barcelona. pic.twitter.com/u782DAqSZ9 — Samuel (@quilombosfera) October 26, 2019

One video purportedly shows armed police rounding up people in an outdoor café.

Els mossos carregant contra un grup de persones que sopaven tranquil·lament a un restaurant. - via AnonymousCAT pic.twitter.com/OK9dK7DCRf — Sergi Pinkman (@sergipinkman) October 26, 2019

Local media reported at least two demonstrators were arrested, and 30 people were injured, including members of the media. Fifteen people have since been discharged from hospital. A police officer was seriously hurt in the skirmishes, reportedly after falling from a police van.

Spanish vans now in Barcelona searching for Catalan demonstrators they have already injured 33 civilians tonight pic.twitter.com/SN5eJhmhse — Help Catalonia 🎗 (@CataloniaHelp2) October 26, 2019

While the night-time action was marred by violence, the afternoon rally that saw 350,000 taking to streets in support of the jailed Catalan leaders took place without incident.

The city has been gripped by protests since October 14, when the nation’s Supreme Court sentenced a group of Catalan politicians responsible for carrying out the 2017 independence referendum to lengthy prison terms.

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