If in the internecine warfare between Spain and Catalonia, political disputes are taking the lion's share, strengthened by a good dose of ideology and populism, the economic consequences of what is happening continue to worry those who observe the Catalan crisis with a more rational and critical eye.
While awaiting the decision of the Council of Ministers which tomorrow, October 21, will decide the range of action of article 155, proposing to the Senate the commissioning of Barcelona (which should lead to new elections next January), the Catalan National Assembly moves on to the counterattack by inviting the supporters of independence to carry out a veritable run on the bank branches.
To report the news is the international agency Bloomberg, according to which the assembly of secessionists would have asked the citizens to withdraw as much money as possible from ATMs by the top five banks in the country. The invitation concerns in particular CaixaBank and Sabadell, the two symbolic institutions that have decided to move their registered offices outside the autonomous community: "If you are a customer of Banco Sabadell or La Caixa - the video states -, express your disagree with the move of their domicile outside Catalonia". The "movement" should take place by today.
Dema, priorityariament de 8 a 9 h, ves a un dels 5 principals bancs i retira la quantitat que vulguis en efectiu. Son els teus diners! pic.twitter.com/TqQUESFOZJ
— National Assembly (@assembly) 19 October 2017
But Catalonia's problem isn't just the banks. Since 1 October, that is to say from the day on which the now famous independence referendum was held, considered illegal by Madrid, there has been a veritable diaspora. The data was provided by the Spanish Economy Minister, Luis de Guindos, who reported that 800 Catalan companies have moved their registered offices to other Spanish regions in the last twenty days. According to de Guindos "this is just the appetizer of what could happen if there were independence, which the government will not allow".
Continuing on the path of secession, Catalonia therefore risks paying a very high price: what until a month ago was a region that alone was worth 20% of Spanish GDP and 23% of industrial production, could soon find itself economically and financially on its knees.
