We at Fundación Banco Santander work with great enthusiasm to improve people's lives and to contribute to the advancement of society by undertaking a wide range of activities focused on culture, social outreach, the environment and research.

With a view to enhancing the spread of culture, we do some interesting work in the fields of art, music, literature and history. Let’s hope that in the near future health conditions enable us to renew our regular offer of cultural events and to continue participating in the initiatives undertaken by other institutions.

We have several social aid initiatives underway to drive inclusive growth. Next year, the call for submissions to Santander Ayuda will continue to focus on supporting those most impacted by the pandemic, the eruption of the Cumbre Vieja volcano on the Canary Island of La Palma and the conflict in Ukraine.

As far as the climate emergency is concerned, our efforts will be devoted to new actions to recover degraded natural areas in partnership with the main conservationist associations based in Spain.

Promoting science is, we believe, of great importance to advancing society, thus we will continue to cooperate with scientific bodies and reward talented young researchers.

Moreover, we will continue eagerly collaborating in the transformation of the Banco Santander historic head office on Paseo de Pereda in Santander; a space dedicated to the performing and visual arts that will house the most outstanding works in the Banco Santander Collection.

Lastly, we will be taking over management of the Banco Santander’s historical archive to promote its preservation, research and dissemination, which will enable us get a better insight into how the bank has developed over this last century and a half.

All of these initiatives have been made possible by support from Banco Santander and its Board of Directors, which approved an increase to foundation capital this year, not to mention the valuable contributions made by the Board of Trustees and the dedication shown by the foundation team. I would like to thank them all for their commitment and heartily encourage them to continue working to meet the major challenges facing us at present.