You are right. I have seen some of those videos, too.

I think that when I first read your comment, your choice of words seemed exaggerated to me (“they beat, manhandled, and generally bullied average non-violent citizens”, as if that were the general trend), and your view too sympathetic to the separatist interpretation of the events (“Catalan fireman in a line preventing the federal police from attacking civilians”).

But yes, there are videos showing violence started by both sides.

I think we’ll need independent investigations (let’s hope that will happen) to discern responsibilities and to know the real number of injuries and what were the causes of those.