Riot police clash with voters as polls open in Catalonia's independence referendum

Police forcefully remove hundreds of would-be voters from polling stations

Spanish police have clashed with voters as thousands of people flocked to the polls to vote in the Catalonia independence referendum.

Catalan emergency services said 38 people were hurt, mostly with minor injuries, as a result of police action.

The country's national police began to seize ballot boxes and voting papers from Catalan polling stations on Sunday morning.

Voters also described the police as "aggressive" and giving "no warning" as hundreds of would-be voters were forcefully removed.

Daniel Riano, 54, was at the Estela school in Barcelona when the police pushed aside a large group gathered outside.

"We were waiting inside to vote when the National Police used force to enter, they used a mace to break in the glass door and they took everything."

He said that "one policeman put me in a headlock to drag me out, while I was holding my wife's hand. It was incredible. They didn't give any warning".

Ferran Miralles said a crowd scuffled with police outside as they formed a tight perimeter around the door.

They said "they were very aggressive. They pushed me out of the way."

A Spanish National Police officer aims a rubber-bullet rifle at pro-referendum supporters in Barcelona (AP)

Elsewhere in Barcelona, police have detained several people outside the Treball voting centre amid scuffles on the street. Officers dragged some of the protesters away and detained them.

At a polling station, due to be used by the Catalan president Carles Puigdemont in Sant Julia de Ramis, riot police used a hammer to smash the glass of the front door and lock cutters to force their way in.

Scuffles erupted outside between police and people waiting to vote with at least one woman injured and wheeled away on a stretcher by paramedics.

In a statement referencing the police action a senior Spanish government official told Reuters: "We have been made to do something we did not want to do."

Riot police also clashed with voters outside a Barcelona voting station, where dozens of police used riot shields to push people back, a Reuters witness said.

(Getty Images) Riot police clash with voters at polling stations across Catalonia (Getty)

People waiting to vote chanted "we are people of peace" and "we are not afraid".

The Catalan leader Carles Puigdemonnt cast his ballot in the village of Cornella del Terri instead.

Leading up to the referendum, Spanish police arrested Catalan officials, seized campaigning leaflets, sealed off many of the 2,300 schools designated as polling stations and occupied the Catalan government's communications hub.

The Catalonian regional government is attempting to make it easier for people to vote following the closures.

It said people can vote at any polling station if their designated one is closed and voting slips printed at home would also be accepted.

Seventy-three per cent of polling stations have been able to open, Catalan government spokesman Jordi Turull has announced.

He asked for patience, saying “there are constant attacks on the computer system”.

The ballot papers contain one question: "Do you want Catalonia to become an independent state in the form of a republic?" with two boxes: Yes or No.

Spain's Constitutional Court ordered the vote to be suspended and central authorities say it is illegal.

Regional separatist leaders have pledged to hold it anyway, promising to declare independence if the "yes" side wins, and have called on 5.3 million eligible voters to cast ballots.

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