Thousands of police pulled out of Catalonia

Spain’s interior ministry says it is withdrawing thousands of police reinforcements who were deployed to its north-eastern region of Catalonia.

The forces were deployed in the run-up to an attempted referendum on the region’s independence in October.

Minister Juan Ignacio Zoido said the estimated 5,000 reinforcements were no longer necessary following a return to normalcy after Spain seized control of the region following a declaration of independence by the Catalan parliament weeks after the referendum.

Spain was criticised over police using force to try to prevent the referendum from taking place. Hundreds of people, including police, were reported injured.

Spain later dismissed the Catalan government and ordered fresh elections for December 21 to quell the secession push and restore legality. Pro-independence parties secured a renewed majority in the Catalan parliament in last week’s election.