In May 2012, just after the Spanish government moved to nationalize Bankia, customer queues continued from opening until closing at branches in the province of Castellón. At the main branch in Burriana, some people arrived before the doors opened so they could be first to withdraw savings. Local reporting recorded waits of ninety minutes to two hours as customers asked what nationalization meant and whether they could take out their money.
Cash was not the only thing people were waiting for. They wanted to turn a national headline into an individual answer about an account. Bankia denied that it was suffering a run on deposits, and the Bank of Spain emphasized the institution's solvency. Yet a formal assurance and the reassurance obtained face to face at a counter are not the same thing.
A bank-run queue does not require an actual failure. The sight of other customers waiting can make anxiety visible and send still more people to the branch. In Burriana, customers were served in sequence and observers noted people leaving without angry expressions. Even so, the waiting time had become another measure of confidence in the financial system.