Hundreds injured in clashes with police as Catalonia defies Spain, holds independence referendum

People help a man injured by a rubber bullet fired by Spanish police outside the Ramon Llull polling station in Barcelona during a Sunday referendum on independence for Catalonia.

Crowds face members of the National Police outside a polling center at a sports center in Barcelona, in northeastern Spain.

Spanish riot police swing clubs against would-be voters near a school assigned to be a polling station by the Catalan government in Barcelona.

Members of the Spanish Civil Guard drag a man outside a polling station in Sant Julia de Ramis, where the Catalan president was supposed to vote.

A man carrying a child tries to run from Spanish police as they move in on the crowds at a polling station in Sant Julia de Ramis. Members of the public gathered outside to prevent police from stopping the vote at the spot where Catalonia President Carles Puigdemont was expected to cast a ballot.

A woman casts her ballot at a polling station in Barcelona. The Spanish government in Madrid has declared the independence referendum illegal.

Women argue with Spanish national police during clashes at the Sant Julia de Ramis sports center in Girona, which was desginated as a polling place.

People gather outside a polling station in the Sabadell neighborhood of Barcelona.

People hold up carnations outside a polling station at the Industry School of Barcelona on the day of a referendum on independence for Catalonia.