Banco Santander created a solidarity fund to fight COVID-19, with funds obtained from a reduction in the salaries of the Board and senior management and voluntary contributions by third parties and Grupo Santander employees. The foundation supported the bank with this charitable initiative, receiving part of the donations in its account and managing and distribut- ing them.

The funds collected were used to manufacture and pur- chase medical equipment, as well as for donations to the public health authorities and scientific research cen- tres to finance research into diagnostic tests, treatments and effective vaccines to halt the spread of the virus.

In Spain, the foundation purchased 20 SUPERSTAR S1100A invasive ventilators, which were delivered to the Instituto Nacional de Gestión Sanitaria (INGESA), dependent upon the Ministry of Health, and 75,661 KN95 masks, which were donated to Cruz Roja. In Mex- ico, it donated 250,000 euros to Fundación Gigante to pay for hot food for medical and administrative staff at hospitals and healthcare institutions. It also sent 250,000 euros to Hospital General de Querétaro for purchasing medical supplies.
The Fondo Solidario Juntos was also used to support research projects into COVID-19 carried out by the Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Cardiovasculares, Hospital Sant Joan de Déu, Fundación Pública Galega de Medicina Xenómica and the Centro Nacional de Genotipado.

Banco Santander, LaLiga, Universal Music and GTS organised a festival on 28 March 2020 to raise funds to mitigate the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. The foundation collaborated with the bank on this pro- ject, taking care of managing and distributing the funds collected.

LaLiga Santander Fest featured a lineup of artists and sportspeople who encouraged viewers to participate in the fundraising effort and to stay at home during the lockdown. The festival was livestreamed simultane- ously in 182 countries on more than 100 platforms and reached 50 million people.

Thanks to donations from individuals and companies from all over the world, the event raised 1,008,718 euros, which were used to purchase medical supplies.

The donations were spent on 500,000 vinyl gloves for the Guardia Civil, 9,158 sterile protective suits for med- ical use for the Department of Health in the Region of Madrid and 435,000 high-risk masks and 115 non-in- vasive ventilators for the Instituto Nacional de Gestión Sanitaria (INGESA), which is dependent upon the Min- istry of Health.