People hold up ballot sheets outside a polling station for the banned independence referendum in Barcelona. Spanish riot police burst into polling stations across Catalonia on Sunday confiscating ballot boxes and voting papers to try to halt a banned referendum on a split from Spain.


REUTERS/Susana Vera 

Spanish Civil Guard officers break through a door at a polling station for the banned independence referendum where Catalan President Carles Puigdemont was supposed to vote in Sant Julia de Ramis.

REUTERS/Juan Medina 

Spanish Civil Guard officers disperse people outside a polling station for the banned independence referendum in Sant Julia de Ramis. REUTERS/Albert Gea 

A man holds a ballot box at a polling station for the banned independence referendum in Barcelona. REUTERS/Yves Herman 

Spanish Civil Guard officers remove demonstrators outside a polling station for the banned independence referendum in Barcelona. REUTERS/Susana Vera 

Scuffles break out as Spanish Civil Guard officers force their way through a crowd and into a polling station for the banned independence referendum where Catalan President Carles Puigdemont was supposed to vote in Sant Julia de Ramis. REUTERS/Juan Medina 

Scuffles break out as Spanish Civil Guard officers force their way through a crowd and into a polling station for the banned independence referendum where Catalan President Carles Puigdemont was supposed to vote in Sant Julia de Ramis. REUTERS/Juan Medina 

Voters are applauded as they leave a polling station for the banned independence referendum in Barcelona. REUTERS/Yves Herman 

A man faces off Spanish Civil Guards outside a polling station for the banned independence referendum in Sant Julia de Ramis. REUTERS/Juan Medina 

A woman is grabbed by riot police near a a polling station for the banned independence referendum in Barcelona.

REUTERS/Enrique Calvo 

An old man reacts as he picks up a ballot inside a polling station for the banned separatist referendum in Barcelona. REUTERS/Enrique Calvo 

Spanish Civil Guard officers carry confiscated electoral material as they walk out from a polling station for the banned independence referendum where Catalan President Carles Puigdemont was supposed to vote in Sant Julia de Ramis. REUTERS/Juan Medina 

A man falls to the ground during scuffles with Spanish Civil Guard officers outside a polling station for the banned independence referendum in Sant Julia de Ramis.

REUTERS/Albert Gea 

A woman reacts as she leaves a polling station after casting her vote for the banned separatist referendum in Barcelona.

REUTERS/Eloy Alonso 

A man reacts as he leaves a polling station after casting his vote for the banned separatist referendum in Barcelona. REUTERS/Eloy Alonso 

A demonstrator blocks a riot police van near a polling station for the banned independence referendum in Barcelona.

REUTERS/Yves Herman 

Demonstartors face riot police outside a polling station for the banned independence referendum in Barcelona. REUTERS/Susana Vera 

People queue to vote in the banned independence referendum at a polling station in Barcelona. REUTERS/Susana Vera 

A man faces off with a Spanish Civil Guard officer outside a polling station for the banned independence referendum in Sant Julia de Ramis.


REUTERS/Albert Gea 

A youngster is carried on shoulders as scuffles with Spanish Civil Guard officers broke out outside a polling station for the banned independence referendum in Sant Julia de Ramis. REUTERS/Albert Gea 

Demonstrators wave Spanish flags during a demonstration in favor of a unified Spain on the day of a banned independence referendum in Catalonia, in Madrid. REUTERS/Rafael Marchante 

A woman reacts as she leaves a polling station after casting her vote for the banned separatist referendum in Barcelona. REUTERS/Eloy Alonso 

A woman holds a carnation towards a Spanish Civil Guard officer outside a polling station for the banned independence referendum in Sant Julia de Ramis. REUTERS/Albert Gea 

A Spanish Civil Guard officer scuffles with a woman outside a polling station for the banned independence referendum where Catalan President Carles Puigdemont was supposed to vote in Sant Julia de Ramis.

REUTERS/Juan Medina 

People stand at the entrance to Estel school to vote in the banned independence referendum, in the Catalan town of Vic. REUTERS/Vincent West 

A voter wearing a pair of boots decorated with the Estelada (Catalan separatist flag) waits outside a polling station during the banned independence referendum in Barcelona. REUTERS/Yves Herman 

A man holds ballots at a polling station for the banned independence referendum in Barcelona. REUTERS/Yves Herman 

Voting officials seal a ballot box at a polling station for the banned independence referendum in Badalona. REUTERS/Susana Vera 

People sleep in front of the entrance to a polling station for the banned independence referendum in El Masnou. REUTERS/Albert Gea 

Police stand in front of demonstrators waving Spanish flags at city hall during a demonstration in favor of a unified Spain a day before the banned independence referendum, in Madrid. REUTERS/Sergio Perez 

People sleep outside a polling station for the banned independence referendum in Barcelona. REUTERS/Jon Nazca 

People occupying the Miquel Tarradell high school, which is a polling station for the banned independence referendum, cheer on people outside the school in Barcelona. REUTERS/Eloy Alonso 

People have dinner inside the occupied Estel school, one of the designated polling stations, the night before the banned referendum, in the Catalan town of Vic. REUTERS/Vincent West 

Parents and their children form a human tower or "castell" as they gather inside the occupied Reina Violant elementary school, one of the designated polling stations, a day before the banned independence referendum in Barcelona. REUTERS/Jon Nazca 

People gather at Sant Jaume square during a demonstration in favour of a unified Spain a day before the banned independence referendum, in Barcelona.

REUTERS/Susana Vera