Catalan farmers trick Spanish police and trap them in field to stop them disrupting general strike

Local media claims the police were stranded for several hours

Thousands protested in Barcelona against the violence that marred the referendum vote (Getty)

A group of farmers tricked Spanish police by trapping them in a field to stop them disrupting protests following the Catalan independence referendum, Spanish media reports.

During the general strike on 3 October, a group of farmers from the region of La Jonquera in Catalonia said they planned to close off the border with France using their tractors.

Hundreds of Spanish police officers went to the border in an attempt to stop the farmers from doing so.

Once they arrived, the farmers were not present and instead had closed off the motorway and all roads heading back into the Catalonia – leaving the police officers trapped.

Joan Caball, the president of Catalonia’s farmer’s union, said the initial plan was to close down the railway but as events unfolded they opted to close the roads.

“The Guardia Civil (Spanish police) just didn't have any good information. They went to another point because the Guardia Civil thought the border was going to be closed, but we didn't want to close the border, we just wanted to close down the railway,” he told BuzzFeed.

“And then when Guardia Civil tried to come back, they found all the farmers, and they couldn't get through.”

Local media claimed the police were trapped for several hours and were not able to intervene during the peak of the general strike.

People took to the street two days after the Catalan referendum on independence to protest against acts of police brutality carried out by Spanish police officers during the vote.