Voting has begun in Catalonia in an independence referendum that has been banned by the Spanish government and the constitutional court. Catalan government officials said, ballot boxes were ready and predicted a big turnout. <br/><br/>But the Spanish interior ministry said, police officers have begun seizing ballot papers and boxes as the polls opened. Madrid has pledged to stop a vote that was declared illegal by the courts. <br/><br/>In the early hours of today morning, dozens of national police vehicles left their base in the port of the regional capital, Barcelona, as officers deployed to enforce the ruling. Latest reports speak of riot police pushing potential voters away from a polling station in the city as voting began in other locations.