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Over 40 people have been injured as police clashed with protesters outside the Camp Nou during and after Wednesday’s El Clasico.
The Mossos d’Esquadra, Catalonia’s autonomous police force, charged and launched foam projectiles at the protesters as they set containers on fire in the streets.
As a result, by 23:00 CET on Wednesday night at least 46 people had had to be treated for the minor injuries they received, according to the System of Medical Emergencies (SEM).
The game ended in a stalemate, as Barcelona were forced to share the spoils with arch-rivals Real Madrid at the Nou Camp.
One cameraman was injured when he was hit in the leg by a foam bullet while he was filming the action.
This is according to EFE sources, who say the journalist was able to carry on with his job afterwards.
The protests organised by Tsunami Democratic before the Clasico had gone by normally with few problems.
Thousands of police and private security guards were deployed in and around stadium.
When the game ended, fans were directed to leave via the stadium’s south side to avoid the clashes outside.
At least four plastic trash cans were set on fire, and a smell of smoke wafted into the Nou Camp.
Inside the stadium some fans held up blue signs saying ‘Spain, Sit and Talk’ and ‘Freedom’. Others chanted, in Catalan, for political prisoners to be freed.
Those messages referred to the Spanish government’s refusal to discuss the region’s independence, as well as the recent imprisonment of nine of the movements leaders convicted for their roles in a failed 2017 secession bid.
The match was halted only briefly when some fans threw balls onto the field bearing a message for the Spanish government to open a dialogue with the separatists.
