Angry rebels barricaded streets, burnt cars and smashed up a bank as the Catalan city showed its revolutionary spirit is still alive.

Tooled-up cops attacked crowds with batons and rubber bullets. The Guardian quoted one student as saying: "We did not expect this degree of repression. Nobody broke anything until they charged."

There were also protests outside a TV station as the authorities tried to exonerate the police and blame the activists for the violence which left a dozen people injured.

Thousands more took to the streets across the Spanish state, including in Valencia where students were last week similarly attacked by violent police.

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