The “Be Water” nature of Hong Kong’s protests—fluid, flexible, and fast-moving—has taken on a new form half way across the world in Catalonia: as a tsunami.

After a Spanish court on Monday (Oct. 14) handed down lengthy jail terms to nine Catalan leaders for their roles in a 2017 secession attempt, tens of thousands of Catalans took to the streets to protest against what they saw as heavy-handed political persecution and blatant repression of the region’s political rights.

The protesters were answering the call to action from a group called Tsunami Democràtic, which launched in September (link in Spanish) urging mass peaceful and civil disobedience actions in order to safeguard Catalonia’s freedoms. Following the sentencing, protesters quickly gathered at plazas and on streets across the region, cutting off major thoroughfares and blocking traffic before heading en masse to their next target: Barcelona’s El Prat airport. As they set off from the city center, a group of youth shouted, “We’re going to do a Hong Kong!“

“We have been inspired a lot by the Hong Kong protests, although we are aware of the differences between both societies,” a representative of Picnic x República (link in Catalan), a digital platform designed to mobilize Catalans for political action, told Quartz. “The Hong Kong people have done a very good job in letting everybody else know about their fight through social networks… These are the first lessons we have learned from them: the use of these tools to mobilize the people and keep them informed.”

A page on Picnic x República’s website lists several Hong Kong protest-related Telegram channels (link in Catalan) as sources of inspiration and information, as well photos of Hong Kong protesters’ street-level organisation (link in Catalan). “The images and videos showing Hong Kongers’ discipline passing messages and goods all along the lines of action made a strong impression on us, although we are not sure we could achieve such perfection,” said the Picnic x República representative. “Maybe, with some time and practice!”

Perhaps the strongest tactical link between the two protest movements is the focus on the Bruce Lee-inspired “Be Water” philosophy, which translates into unpredictable, creative, and agile protests that flow like water and move quickly throughout the city.