SPANISH POLICE fired rubber bullets and used their batons when trying to clear protesters from makeshift camps in the centre of Barcelona today, according to reports from the scene.

Camps have been set up in cities across Spain as people protest the country’s high unemployment rate of 21.3 per cent, as well as national debt issues. When protesters refused to leave the Barcelona camp voluntarily after two weeks, riot police were called in.

Police said they had security concerns about the bottles, sticks and camping gas canisters people had at the square, ahead of Barcelona’s appearance in the Champions League final. The AFP reports that once the area was cleared, about 100 protesters returned to the Placa de Cataluna.

A Catalonia regional police official said people were injured in Friday’s clashes but would not say how many. The Barcelona newspaper La Vanguardia said 99 people, including 12 police officers, were hurt. All but two were light injuries, the paper said.

Reports of injuries vary, with local paper La Vanguardia saying 99 people, including a dozen police officers, were injured, while the AFP says 87 people were injured.

The biggest protest so far has been in Madrid’s Puerta del Sol square, although the numbers gathered there have fallen since they peaked just before the election on 22 May. Today, about 500 people were gathered there.

This video footage shows police using their batons on protesters in the square (warning: contains images some may find disturbing):