Protest co-ordinators say 20 people were injured at end of demonstration to mark movement's first anniversary

This article is more than 8 years old

This article is more than 8 years old

Spain's "indignados" gathered again in Madrid's emblematic Puerta del Sol on Sunday to protest against what they claim was excessive violence when riot police cleared the square of a previous demonstration early in the morning.

Witness accounts from those in the square when it was cleared at 5am contradicted statements from the interior ministry, which claimed dozens of protests around Spain on Saturday had ended "without incident".

Press photographers were among those expelled from the Puerta del Sol as police chased protesters around nearby streets.

Javier Bauluz, part of a team of Pulitzer prize-winning photographers from Associated Press, was pushed and struck in the face by a police officer. "They hit me for doing my job," said Bauluz. "The general attitude was to get us out of the square and prevent us from working, shoving us if necessary," said fellow photographer Gabriel Pecot.

Protest co-ordinators said about 20 people were injured after demonstrations marked the first anniversary of the non-violent indignado movement.

Police reported that two of their number were hurt. Eighteen people were arrested and many more reportedly face administrative fines after having their details taken down.

"The violence used was disproportionate," said an indignado spokeswoman. "People were having a very calm assembly when police came in."

Sunday night's demonstration, which included a series of open assemblies to debate political change, was far less well attended than the previous evening. El País newspaper estimated that some 5,000 people were in the square an hour before the midnight deadline to leave.

The indignados began protesting last year against the political system as a whole and have since moved on to fight health and education cuts, bank bailouts, mortgage foreclosures and austerity measures that have pushed Spain back into recession.

The conservative government of Mariano Rajoy has vowed not to allow the indignados to repeat the camp-outs that were tolerated by the previous socialist government.

The interior ministry did not respond to queries about the allegations from the Guardian.

With protests called for Monday and Tuesday, the situation looked set to remain tense. It was not clear whether protesters planned to stay again all night, a move that would almost certainly see riot police return.

"I imagine this is something that the various open assemblies being held this afternoon will debate," the spokeswoman said. On Saturday the Puerta del Sol was packed with demonstrators, including families with young children on their shoulders and a group of pensioners that called itself the Indignant Grandparents.

Rajoy's government is wary of the indignados, especially with financial markets jittery about the state of the country as it falls back into recession, unemployment reaches 24%, bond yields rise and the country's fourth largest bank, Bankia, is nationalised. A poll in el País newspaper on Sunday showed that 51% of Spaniards still sympathised with the movement, though this had fallen from 64% a year ago.