Amateur footage purports to show scenes as the protesters tried to make their way to the Interior Ministry.
Several people were injured.
The unrest has been going on since Tuesday when police moved in to clear the remains of the Indignados camp – set up against the government response to the country’s econcomic crisis – from the Puerta del Sol square.
Normally bustling with tourists this time of year, the square is now empty with shops and restaurants shutting up too.
Riot police blocades have kept would-be indignados gathered in surrounding streets from returning to the square for now.
But officers say they will not be able to maintain the long hours asked of them much longer.
The three-day battle for Puerta del Sol — in pictures from our friend ROARMAG
For three days, the indignados have been trying to reclaim their square from the police. Tonight, an overwhelmed police force responded with violence.
Puerta del Sol was evicted by Spanish police on Tuesday, leading to a major popular backlash that same very night. For the past three days, thousands of outraged protesters have been trying to take back the square from police in a massive outburst of spontaneous non-violent civil disobedience.
Today, for the third day in a row, central Madrid was brought to a complete standstill. Sol remains occupied by police, who have blocked off all the access routes (itself an unprecedented feat in Spanish democratic history, and, according to the largest police union, a constitutionally illegal order by the government).
Tonight, a tired and overwhelming police force finally snapped and resorted to unprovoked and indiscriminate violence. Prepare for an even greater backlash when Spain wakes up to these images tomorrow!
