Catalan Separatists Mass Withdraw Money from Major Banks

Supporters of Catalan independence on Friday responded en masse to a call from two associations and rushed to withdraw their money from the leading banks in the country, protesting against the central authorities’ threat to suspend the autonomy of the richest Spanish region.

The Catalan National Assembly (ANC), a party in the Catalan parliament advocating for secession from Spain, and the civil society organization Omnium Cultural, called on independence supporters to rush to the five largest banks between eight and nine in the morning on Friday and withdraw a certain amount of money, whether significant or merely symbolic.

– Don’t forget: this is your money, the civil organization stated.

>>>Catalan leader missed ‘deadline’, threatened to declare full independence

– This is a way of protesting. We do not wish any harm to the Spanish or Catalan economy, said 42-year-old Roser Cobos, who withdrew exactly 1714 euros, alluding to the date when the troops of King Philip V conquered Barcelona.

Under the hashtag #laforcadelagent – the power of the people – Twitter users posted photos of long lines in front of ATMs.

>>>Eurostat: Poland records the largest drop in poverty in the EU

Some withdrew exactly 155 euros in protest against Madrid’s threat to activate a previously unused article of the Spanish constitution regarding the suspension of autonomy.

Participants in today’s event are also protesting against the imprisonment of the leaders of these two movements: Jordi Sanchez (ANC) and Jordi Cuixart (Omnium), as well as the decision of several companies to leave Catalonia and relocate their headquarters to Madrid, including two major Catalan banks, CaixaBank and Banco de Sabadell.