A growing crisis in Spain’s Catalonia region amid independence vote

Opponents of Catalan’s independence efforts carry Spanish flags while marching in Barcelona, Spain.

A man wrapped in a Catalan pro-independence “Estelada� flag places flowers on the gate of Barcelona’s Ramon Llull School, a polling station that was targeted by riot police during the banned independence referendum on Oct. 1.

Childhood friends David Jovellar, wearing an “Estelada� or independence flag, and Almudena Chueco, wearing a Spanish flag, hug after bumping into each other at a demonstration in Barcelona, Spain.

A firefighter is applauded during a one-day strike in Barcelona, Spain. Labor unions and pro-independence groups are urging workers to strike throughout Catalonia to protest police behavior during a referendum on the region’s secession from Spain.

Thousands gather in Plaza Universitat during a protest against the violence that marred Sunday’s referendum vote in Barcelona, Spain.

A Catalan student with a red cross on her mouth takes part in a mass protest against the Spanish police’s actions during a referendum held the previous day in Barcelona. Catalan President Carles Puigdemont has asked for an international mediation to deal with the unrest in Catalonia and called for the withdrawal of the police forces in the region.

Thousands of students in Barcelona raise their hands in a protest against Spanish police forces.

People line up to lay flowers in front of ballot boxes used during the Catalan independence referendum in Pineda de Mar, Spain.

A young woman hugs a firefighter as others wait to lay flowers on ballot boxes used during the Catalan independence referendum in Pineda de Mar, Spain.

People supporting Catalan and wearing pro-independence “Estelada� regional flags leave after taking part in a protest at Barcelona University.

Catalonian police members protect National Police vehicles in front of hundreds of demonstrators as they leave police headquarters in Barcelona, Spain.