In May 2016 the European Central Bank decided that it would stop producing 500 euro banknotes throughout the European Union . Following these guidelines, the Bank of Spain began not to issue notes of this amount since 2019 and now and they are on the way to extinction in our country.
According to data from the Bank of Spain itself, last May these banknotes registered their lowest figure since February 2002 with a total of 16.9 million banknotes in circulation in our country . This is equivalent to an amount of 8,450 million euros.
The 500 euro banknotes have tended to disappear since the European Central Bank decided that they were little-used banknotes given the high amount they represented for day-to-day life. This fall in May represents 1.74% fewer banknotes between the fourth and fifth month of the year, and it seems that the trend is downward until the 500 euros are almost converted into collector’s notes.
Those of 200 euros also in danger
In this sense, the data provided by the Bank of Spain in relation to the issuance of 200 euro banknotes is also down. Last May the 3.77 million banknotes that were in circulation of this amount, became 3.62 million, about 30 million euros less.
The same does not happen with the data of banknotes of lower amounts such as those of 100, 50, 20 and 10 euros. Banknotes of 50 registered an increase in May, going from having 1,396 units in circulation to 1,410 units, which represented a considerable increase.
For their part, the 100, 20 and 10 banknotes had an increase between withdrawn banknotes and banknotes distributed in our country , since there were many that the banks themselves delivered to the Bank of Spain due to excess banknotes of these amounts.
This phenomenon is explained by being closely related to the tourism that Spain has. Our country is the recipient of millions of tourists who have brought many bills of these amounts that end up in banks.
Banks do not need so much cash in banknotes, so they devote themselves to returning them to the Bank of Spain, achieving a net negative balance between 100, 20 and 10 banknotes, the most used in our country.
Goodbye to pesetas
The Bank of Spain has also wanted to inform Spaniards that June 30 will be the last day to change the pesetas that we have in our possession, after extending the term by six months on December 30.
If you still have a peseta in your possession, don’t wait any longer. It is the last chance to change them. June 30 is the deadline. #PideCitaPrevia and # CambiaTusPesetas in one of our branches already https://t.co/yRCkgcG7sm pic.twitter.com/BKIIGI65iO
– Bank of Spain (@BancoDeEspana) June 20, 2021
