Old currency needed for Alzheimer's research: 'The Peseta's Last Mission'

After New Year's Eve 2020, Spain's former currency will no longer be worth its face value and will not be possible to exchange, 20 years on from the introduction of the euro into the country.

Despite everyone having had two decades to swap old coins and notes, the Bank of Spain says around €1.6 billion worth of pesetas remain in circulation.

This is probably, however, largely deliberate: Many Spaniards will have kept some of their smaller-denomination cash for memory's sake, and many tourists will have retained theirs as souvenirs.

Also, some may have fallen down drains or otherwise become lost without trace, and some may have been bought up by antique dealers, given that certain specific coins from given years can be worth anything from €30 to several thousand.

But for those who have simply never got around to it and have a pile somewhere of shrapnel found down the back of the sofa or when cleaning out the washing machine filter, and are not particularly attached to them, the Pasqual Maragall Foundation wants them.

This is especially the case for those whose peseta haul is so small that it would cost them more to make the effort of changing them than they would actually earn from doing so.

Supported by telecomms group Masmóvil, the Foundation has launched the campaign, 'The Peseta's Last Mission', in which the now-defunct currency 'saves the day' by funding Alzheimer's research.

As part of the campaign, the Foundation is calling for people whose daily lives meant spending in pesetas to tell them of their memories associated with the currency.

Given that one of the early symptoms of Alzheimer's is forgetfulness, the Pasqual Maragall Foundation's Dr Arcadi Navarro says: “Pesetas lying around Spanish households are, in many cases, forgotten about. For this reason, we at the Foundation want to give them a new opportunity – for these 'forgotten memories' to turn into research and help make our mission, that of beating Alzheimer's, possible.”

Pesetas can be dropped off until the end of this year in dedicated piggy-banks in Yoigo and MASlife shops – around 800 collection points have been set up in all regions across Spain.

Anyone else who wants to contribute to Alzheimer's research but does not have any pesetas left or does not want to part with the few they have can make a donation via the website laultimamision.org ('La Última Misión', or 'The Last Mission'), which also includes a search engine to find peseta drop-off points.

The Pasqual Maragall Foundation, a privately-run non-profit entity, was set up in April 2008 in response to the pledge made by former mayor of Barcelona and ex-regional president of Catalunya, Pasqual Maragall, to keep nothing hidden from his people after publicly announcing he had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's.

His Foundation, of which he is honorary chairman, is now presided by his daughter, Cristina Maragall, and run by Dr Arcadi Navarro.

As well as promoting and funding research into the condition – with the support of around 15 institutions and companies and some 35,000 members - the Foundation offers solutions for improving quality of life for Alzheimer's patients and their carers.