BARCELONA, Spain -- Clashes between Catalan separatists and police in Barcelona left 14 people injured and led to six arrests Saturday as tensions boiled over, days before the anniversary of the Spanish region's illegal referendum on secession, which ended in violent raids by security forces.
Separatists tossed and sprayed colored powder at police officers, filling the air with a thick rainbow cloud and covering anti-riot shields and police vans. Some protesters threw eggs and other objects and engaged with the police line, which used batons to keep them back.
The clashes broke out after local Catalan police intervened to form a barrier when a separatist threw purple paint on a man who was part of another march, in support of Spanish police demanding a pay raise. Officers used batons to keep the opposing groups apart.
There were more confrontations as the separatists tried to enter Barcelona's main city square where 3,000 people supporting Spanish police had ended their march.
Barcelona Mayor Ada Colau pleaded for peace when the first scuffles broke out.
"I make a call for calm," Colau told Catalunya Radio. "This city has always defended that everyone can exercise their rights to free speech."
The Catalan police said the six arrests were made on charges of aggressions against police officers. The investigation was continuing.
One police officer was hurt, although it was not immediately clear if the officer was among the 14 people reported by health authorities as needing medical treatment. Three were taken to hospitals, while the others were attended to on the street.
There were ugly episodes between members of the opposing groups.
An Associated Press photographer saw a group of several people who had arrived to support the Spanish police being chased by a mob of around 100 separatists, some of whom tried to kick and trip the supporters before they could reach the safety of local police. Separately, a woman punched a man who supports Catalan secession in the face before police could separate them.
The pro-police march had originally planned to end in another square that is home to the regional and municipal government seats, but 6,000 separatists, according to local police, gathered in the square to force regional authorities to alter the march's route. Some separatists arrived the night before and camped out in the square.
"The separatists are kicking us out," said national police officer Ibon Dominguez, who attended the march. "They are kicking the national police and [Civil Guard] out of the streets of our own country."
The police march was organized by the police association Jusapol, which wants Spain's two nationwide police forces, the national police and Civil Guard, to be paid as much as Catalonia's regional police.
Jusapol holds marches in cities across Spain, but Saturday's march in Barcelona came two days before Catalonia's separatists plan to remember last year's referendum on secession, which was held by the regional government despite its prohibition by the nation's top court.
That Oct. 1 referendum was marred when national police and Civil Guard officers clashed with voters, injuring hundreds.
Information for this article was contributed by Renata Brito and Daniel Cole of The Associated Press.
A Section on 09/30/2018