At least 33 people were arrested and 46 police officers injured in a third night of violent street protests in Barcelona on Wednesday, the Spanish Interior Ministry informed Thursday.

The violence escalated on Wednesday night following the prison sentences handed down to nine pro-Catalan independence leaders for their roles in the 2017 Catalan independence referendum, which was ruled illegal by the Spanish Constitutional Court.

A group of protestors set fire to barricades, vehicles and rubbish containers and hurled stones and bottles at riot police.

TV images also appeared to show projectiles fired at a police helicopter which was circling above the incidents, most of which happened along the northern end of the city's Gran Via street.

The number of police officers injured in the past three days has now risen to over 190, while according to medical services, around 300 protestors have needed medical attention, including a 17-year-old, who was run over by a police van in the city of Tarragona (south of Barcelona) on Wednesday night.

Wednesday's street violence broke out after acting Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez addressed the nation, saying the Spanish state would "always guarantee the rights of those who wish to protest their ideas peacefully. But organized violent groups and those who try to break democratic laws will not achieve their aims."

"The only hope of those violent groups is that we'll make mistakes and become overexcited and divided. They want us to fall for their provocations and feed a violent spiral," said Sanchez after a day in which he met the leaders of Spain's main political parties to discuss the crisis.

Both Pablo Casado and Albert Rivera, the leaders of the right wing People's Party and Ciudadanos party urged Sanchez to activate Article 155 of the Spanish Constitution to suspend the autonomy of the Catalan region. Although Sanchez did not say he would do that, he insisted that his "government contemplates every scenario in Catalonia."

At around midnight, Catalan leader Quim Torra made a brief speech in which he asked for an end to the violence, saying there was "no reason nor justification for acts of vandalism."

Meanwhile the nine Catalan prisoners, including former deputy leader Oriol Junqueras, who on Monday was given a 13-year sentence for sedition and misuse of government funds, issued a statement supporting "mobilizations and massive and peaceful marches," but stressing that "no violence represents us."

Further demonstrations are expected on Thursday, while a general strike has been called for the Catalan region on Friday.

Finally the Spanish football league and Football Federation are reported to be considering postponing the Barcelona v Real Madrid football game scheduled for Oct. 26 due to the risk of incidents.

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