The new strategic plan of Banco Santander for the period 2026-2028, presented this Wednesday, is ambitious: the entity chaired by Ana Botín expects to earn more than 20 billion euros in two years –It already closed 2025 with record profits of 14.101 billion euros– and also plans to more than double the cash dividend by 2028 compared to the last fiscal year. Investors have applauded this plan, which has already boosted the bank's share price by more than 3.5% by midday.

Francesc Solé Parellada, Paco, as his friends called him, left a void in the Catalan and Spanish academic, business, and gastronomic world on June 19th.A legacy that was evident this Wednesday at the tribute to his life organized by the Polytechnic University of Catalonia and the CYD Foundation – a foundation dedicated to promoting and analyzing the Spanish university system, co-founded in 2002 by Solé – where more than one hundred people attended, including his personal friends. The president of Banco Santander and president of the Knowledge and Development Foundation (CYD), Ana Botín, was in charge of the closing remarks. The banker met Solé in 2002, when, together with Francesc Santacana, they proposed the idea for what is now the Foundation. She was amazed and quickly convinced: "Paco managed to be a bridge between very different fields that initially didn't understand each other, such as business and universities, or innovation and culture," Botín emphasized.

Banco Santander is enjoying a winning streak. This Wednesday, the bank, chaired by Ana Botín, presented its results for the third quarter of 2025, in which it once again broke profit records. Specifically, Santander achieved a net profit of €10.337 billion through September, 11% higher than in the same period of the previous year, reaching its best historical result for this period, according to the bank. Banco Santander CEO Héctor Grisi stated during the presentation to analysts that he expects "positive momentum" in net interest income in Spain through 2026, after it improved by 1% in the third quarter. "Net interest income in Spain has improved significantly. [...] We expect it to continue with low single-digit growth in the fourth quarter, compared to our previous forecast where we expected it to remain flat," Grisi commented.

Banco Santander is proud of its acquisition of the British subsidiary TSB in Banc Sabadell. For the bank chaired by Ana Botín, the acquisition, which has occurred in the midst of the hostile takeover bid by BBVA, is a perfect fit for them, in the words of CEO Héctor Grisi. To acquire TSB, Santander will pay €3.1 billion, which Sabadell has used to announce an extraordinary dividend just as the takeover bid is finalized. In any case, the Vallesan bank's shareholders will have to ratify the sale at a general shareholders' meeting on August 6. This will also include the distribution of the extraordinary dividend (€2.5 billion).

"These are very good results." This is how Banco Santander's CEO, Héctor Grisi, defended the bank's first-quarter earnings. The bank, chaired by Ana Botín, achieved a record profit of €3.402 billion between January and March, representing a 19% increase over the same period last year. The increase is the result of record commission income and reduced costs, as reported by the company through the National Securities Market Commission (CNMV). However, the market is not initially in its favor. At 1:30 p.m. on Wednesday, the bank's share price fell more than 5%. "The entire European banking sector is falling today," Grisi said, aiming to downplay the stock's performance.

A resounding defeat for Ana Botín, the president of Banco Santander, in the case that confronted her with Andrea Orcel. Santander will have to pay €68m over the botched signing of Orcel, as Madrid Court no 46 has decided. The bank has already said it will appeal.