Los Granadinos withdrew a stunning 400 million euros from their savings accounts in just three months – whether it was because they needed the money to live or because they didn’t trust the state of the euro is not clear, but it is probably a case of the former rather than the latter.

This drop in savings was from the 1st of January to the 31st of March, so we can assume a similar amount was lost at the end of each quarter since then.

Perhaps even more telling is the state of time deposits, which by their very nature deal with more money that normal savings accounts. The amounts held in this type of account dropped from 7,037 million to 6,779, despite high penalties being paid by taking out the money before the time deposit matures.

So, the drop between March 2011 and March 2012 was 685 million, of which, virtually two thirds disappeared in the first quarter of this year. Now, if as suggested the crisis will accompany us for the rest of 2012 and most of 2013, just how long is the money still held in savings accounts going to last, judging by first three months of this year?

(News: Granada, Andalucia)