Police officers were filmed stomping on sitting protesters, kicking them in the head, and dragging them by the hair in shocking footage of Spain’s crackdown on Catalonia.
The brutal footage of government violence sees the Spanish police relentlessly beat up unarmed Catalan voters taking part in the referendum for independence.
The peaceful voters had been sitting in the Escola Ramon Llull school which was being used as a referendum station.
In one scene, a woman is thrown down the stairs by armoured riot police while others are hit with batons.
Marti Pont, 19, who was at the school when the violence struck, told The Guardian: “Seven vanloads of Policia Nacional arrived.
“We kept calm. There were some elderly people. They started dragging us out, often by the throat. Lots of women were dragged out by the hair.
“The police warned journalists to go away. They ran off and the police started firing rubber bullets. “
According to the Catalan government, at least 337 people have been injured by Spanish police violence.
Representatives of the regional power have branded the violence “unjustifiable and shameful”.
However, the Spanish government have deemed the vote illegal and a farce.
They drafted in riot police from across Spain to shut down the vote today.
Several users online have challenged the European Union to act, claiming that the footage of brutality violates Article 7 of the EU Treaty.
That Article states: “Suspension of any Member State that uses military force on its own population.”
Jeremy Corbyn has called on the Spanish government to end “shocking” police violence.
Senior Ukip member Ben Walker said the reports were “concerning”.
He said: “When the police turn on their own people, firing plastic bullets into crowds and photographing people taking part in a democratic process, the county has serious problems.
“This is exactly the kind of situation the EU would be involving themselves in normally, but Brussels needs to keep the Spanish establishment on side particularly with Brexit negotiations and Spain’s illegal demands over Gibraltar, so watch them ignore it.”