We will use your email address only for sending you newsletters. Please see our Privacy Notice for details of your data protection rights.

Sign up fornow and never miss the top politics stories again.

Spanish police have been filmed attacking Catalan police officers for getting in the way of their heavy-handed crackdown of the independence vote.

In shocking scenes, members of the Catalan police force, the Mossos, confront the Spanish Civil Guard who are hitting voters with batons.

The Catalan law enforcers urged the Spanish police, who arrived in the region ahead of the vote, to calm down.

However, the Spanish officers reacted by attacking the Catalan forces.

The tense scuffle between the two police forces shows how deeply divided Spain is over the referendum.