People take to the streets to defend Spain's unity, its constitution and protest against the independence referendum set to be held on Sunday which has been declared illegal by Spain's Constitutional Court, in Barcelona, Spain, on Sept. 30, 2017. (Xinhua/Guo Qiuda)
BARCELONA, Spain, Oct. 1 (Xinhua) -- At least 38 people have been injured in Barcelona on Sunday as Spanish police charged protesters and fired rubber bullets at voters in front of polling stations, set up for an independence referendum.
The emergency service said they had attended to 38 people, but none of them are seriously wounded.
Nine of them were hospitalized, while most of the others were treated for "bruises, dizziness and panic attacks", according to the Health Department of the Catalan regional government.
Spanish National Police and Civil Guards entered a number of schools used as polling stations, as voting got underway in the Catalan independence poll.
The referendum has been declared illegal by the Spanish Constitutional Court with police given orders to seize anything used to promote the referendum or allow it to be undertaken.
Many people had slept overnight in the buildings to allow them to be used to vote, but the Spanish and local media reported that in some buildings the internet connection was cut to prevent voting, while in others, police forced their way in to confiscate ballot boxes and ballot papers.
Around 50 riot police forced their the Ramon Lull school in Barcelona, as well as the Jaume Balmes school in the street Pau Claris in the same city, where a police line was formed to stop voters entering the building.
