38 people have been injured after violence broke out during Catalonia's independence referendum.

Clashes occurred after police attempted to prevent the vote from taking place following a decision by Spain's constitutional court.

According to BBC News, witnesses say officers fired rubber bullets during pro-referendum protests in Barcelona.

#fascist #spain #quardiacivil beating up peaceful #catalans #CatalonianReferendum voters #Barcelona #Catalunya pic.twitter.com/p6Hw8AJMDx

— Ben Cohen (@meadeluxlewis) October 1, 2017

Speaking to reporters, Catalan leader, Carles Puigdemont, condemned the action of police.

"The unjustified use of violence… by the Spanish state will not stop the will of the Catalan people."

In the town of Griona, where Mr Puigdemont was due to cast his vote, riot police forced their way into a polling station, in an attempt to forcibly remove anyone trying to cast a vote.

Is real… This morning, the only thing we want is vote… #Democracy #CatalonianReferendum #1Oct pic.twitter.com/8brhIC5G1n

— pink.eskeletor (@PinkEskeletor) October 1, 2017

Catalonia is a territory in north-eastern Spain with its own language and culture and a population of approximately 7.5 million.

Many of its citizens wish for the region to become recognised as a separate nation, though Spanish Prime Minister, Mariano Rajoy, says the vote goes against the constitution.

Feature Image: Twitter