The project, led by Cantabrian illusionists Mago Xuso and Asier Moon, turned the center of Santander into a space for awareness and solidarity. Its goal: to make visible, normalize, and make life easier for children battling cancer
The charitable initiative “Tel Reto de la Caja”, promoted by magicians Xuso and Asier Moon, has managed to raise more than €18,000, which will be entirely allocated to childhood cancer research carried out by the Valdecilla Health Research Institute (IDIVAL).
Held from September 27 to October 5 in Santander’s Plaza del Ayuntamiento, the project transformed the heart of the city into a great space of empathy and social commitment for nine days, during which the artists remained confined inside a semi-transparent room — a symbolic gesture evoking the hospital isolation many children experience during cancer treatments.
Days later, the creators of the challenge presented the check with the final amount raised in a simple yet emotional ceremony held at IDIVAL, attended by Galo Peralta, the institute’s managing director, and Mónica López, a pediatric hematologist at the Marqués de Valdecilla University Hospital.
A Model Project of Imagination and Solidarity
“From IDIVAL, we wish to express our deepest gratitude to Mago Xuso and Asier Moon for their effort, creativity, and social commitment. “El Reto de la Caja” has been a model project — the best example of how imagination and solidarity can mobilize an entire community around such an essential cause as childhood cancer research,” said Peralta.
He also highlighted the educational and social value of the initiative, which not only helped fund biomedical research but also gave visibility to other complementary causes, such as the inclusion of people with disabilities, pet adoption, and the fight against bullying.
“Normalizing How We Look at Children with Cancer”
For their part, the organizers — magicians Xuso and Asier Moon — emphasized the emotional and meaningful impact of the project beyond its financial success.
“It started as an idea to show what a child experiences inside a hospital, and in the end, we achieved something even greater — a little girl, Irene, entered the box and broke it open. People realized it was real, that this is what many children in Valdecilla and other hospitals across Spain go through. For us, it was magical, and we made people aware that this reality exists.”
Their goal, they explained, was not only to raise funds but also to normalize how society perceives children with cancer: “We wanted people to understand that they are ordinary children going through an oncology treatment. If you see a child without hair, you shouldn’t turn away — just as you wouldn’t with an adult. They are still kids who want to play, have fun, and live.”
Transparency, Participation, Unity, and Hope
Beyond the emotional component, the illusionists emphasized the transparency of the fundraising effort:“Not even in our wildest dreams did we imagine reaching more than €18,000. But just as important to us was earning people’s trust. We wanted everything to be 100% transparent — anyone could see how much was being raised in real time. That’s why we set up a virtual jar that updated every two hours.”
The participatory spirit was one of the keys to success. “La Caja is not us,” they added. “La Caja is everyone — the volunteers, the children, the donors, the people passing by the square who gave a euro. Everyone felt part of it. In the end, it became a social movement that united all of Santander.”
During the challenge, the event also hosted various charitable activities: hair donations for oncology wigs, a blood drive resulting in 14 new donors, collection of over 500 kilos of food for the Children’s Food Bank, adaptive sports demonstrations, animal shows, and adoption parades. “We tried to do everything possible to share — and we achieved it together.”
They also revealed that they are already working on “La Caja 2” and mentioned that the project has been registered and patented to prevent misuse. “We want it to remain a symbol of transparency, unity, and hope — always for charitable purposes. We’re more than satisfied because the challenge achieved far more than just financial results. It raised awareness, sparked conversation, and made the invisible visible. The first seed has been planted, and now our mission is to keep nurturing it little by little so that people understand that facing childhood cancer head-on is the first step to defeating it”.
Before closing, Xuso and Asier expressed their heartfelt gratitude to the Santander City Council for its support and trust in the project, as the only public institution that believed in “La Caja” from the start. They especially acknowledged councilman Fran Arias “for not only being present as a public representative but for making it personal — visiting every morning, afternoon, and night to check on us, to ask how we were doing, and to offer help at all times.” The artists emphasized that without him, “La Caja” would not have been possible. “Just as we thank everyone and every organization that joined the challenge, we also feel it’s only fair to thank the person who stood by us from day one,” they concluded.
