During WWII, plucky Londoners tore down their beautiful Victorian cast-iron railings, sending them off to be recycled into guns and tanks. Today, Spaniards are being asked to do something similar:
Spanish officials were yesterday reported to be looking for ways of encouraging Spaniards to remove the estimated 108m €500 notes they have hoarded in safes or under floorboards and take them to the bank. That averages out to at least two per Spaniard, or a total of €54bn, circulating outside the country’s banking system.
We can trust, I hope, that the banknotes won’t end up at the bottom of the Thames Estuary, as the railings did.