The first was damaged when it was hammered in, so it was removed and turned into jewellery. The second “last” spike was removed shortly after it was driven in to make sure that no souvenir hunters grabbed it. It was eventually transformed into a carving knife.
Despite deteriorating domestic conditions, the Portuguese authorities did not exploit the increased room for manoeuvre provided by the enlarged bands, so that official interest rates were adjusted in a manner consistent with the maintenance of exchange rate stability. During the period of ERM membership, inflation declined steadily and the differential against the European Union average was virtually eliminated.