Spain's big five strenghthen reserves Madrid's announcement of a 30 billion euro raise in provision for bad loans has made waves in the financial sector including at the country's biggest bank Banco Santander. Regional savings banks, known as cajas, are gearing up to find the necessary resources while the country's five largest banks have announced they will put aside and extra 15 billion euros. Banco Santander said in addition to 2.3 billion euros already announced in February, it will keep 2.7 billion euros more in reserve to clean up its balance sheet. The finance giant added that it will not need government help with the cash, which raises its safety net to 5 billion euros in total. But the move does directly affect Banco Santander's financial results. The Spanish bank's first quarter profits fell by 24 percent to 1.6 billion euros compared to a year ago because of the increase in provisions. The bank says it will use proceeds from the sale of assets in Colombia to raise cash, and it will not change its dividend target. Investors are seemingly not so assured due to the degree of uncertainty in the country's finance sector. Banco Santander's shares in Madrid closed just over 3 percent down on Monday at four euros seventy-two. More about: Banking, Markets, Santander, Spain