The Catalan regional police, the Mossos d’Esquadra, faced off with members of the pro-independence group Committees for the Defense of the Republic (CDR) to stop clashes breaking out with a rival demonstration.Albert Gea (REUTERS)Around 6,000 CDR members had gathered in Barcelona to block a demonstration, called by the police union Jusapol, in support of officers who tried to stop last year’s illegal referendum on Catalan independence from taking place.Albert Gea (REUTERS)The Mossos successfully stopped the two groups from clashing but were bombarded by CDR protesters with paint bombs and other objects.Pau (AFP)The clashes came ahead of the one-year anniversary of the illegal referendum on Catalan secession that was held on October 1 and led to a unilateral declaration of independence.Pau Barrena (AFP)A Mossos police officer injured in the protest.Juan BarbosaA Mossos police officer holds back a protester.Emilio Morenatti (AP)A protester burns a photo of King Felipe of Spain.Juan BarbosaA woman speaks with a Mossos officer who has been covered with paint from the paint bombs thrown by CDR protesters.Enric Fontcuberta (EFE)Twenty-four people were injured in the clashes. In this photo, a Mossos officer is placed in an ambulance.Juan BarbosaA pro-independence protester tries to break police lines.Felipe Dana (AP)The CDR tried to reach the National Police headquarters where around 3,000 officers and family members were holding a demonstration to demand police and Civil Guard officers be paid the same salary as the Mossos. The protest also acted as a show of support for the officers who helped remove ballot boxes during the illegal referendum. The Jusapol demonstration did not have the support of larger police unions, which called it “populist” and “untimely.”JON NAZCA (REUTERS)CDR protesters yelled “Our minister is in prison,” in reference to Joaquim Forn, the former interior minister of the Catalan regional government, who is in pre-trial detention for his involvement in the illegal referendum.JON NAZCA (REUTERS)The clashes broke out when the CDR protesters tried to stop the Jusapol demonstration, which they viewed as a provocation.David Ramos (GETTY)
