66 injured after police clash with protesters in Barcelona

Truncheon-wielding police in Barcelona have clashed with protesters at a makeshift camp that is one of dozens erected in Spain to protest high unemployment and other woes.

A Catalonia regional police official said people were injured in Friday''s clashes but would not say how many. Spanish media reported that around 45 were slightly hurt. The official spoke on condition of anonymity in line with department rules.

Officers in riot gear were accompanying workers tasked with cleaning up the nearly two-week-old camp at Plaza de Catalunya and police used force when protesters would not evacuate the camp temporarily as requested.

The official said police fired compressed-air guns that shoot blanks and that after the square was cleaned, the protesters returned and police left.