After a particularly difficult year, we are preparing to face a future filled with challenges as well as opportunities to cement the values underpinning our commitment to building a fairer, more inclusive, more sustainable society.

We began the new year with the hope of carrying out our activities in a more favourable environment that allows us to offer new initiatives relating to the arts, music, history and literature.

Our aim is to remain close to the cultural institutions that have accompanied us for so many years and help them to recover. To do this, we will continue to encourage job creation in the cultural sector, one of the worsthit during this public health crisis, via the Santander Emplea Cultura programme.

We have reviewed our social outreach projects and are convinced of their relevance in the present circumstances. Santander Ayuda, our programme in collaboration with the third sector, will remain one of our main focuses. We also hope that our international cooperation project, Santander BEST Africa, thrives once international travel is back on the table.

Protecting the environment to stop global warming is another of our com- mitments; therefore, in 2021 we will be launching initiatives intended to preserve our seas, which are essential ecosystems for the planet’s balance.

I would like to thank the Board of Directors at Banco Santander for its tireless support, which has allowed us to act quickly and find solutions for some of the people who have been worst affected by the pandemic, as well as keeping our cultural programmes alive. I am also grateful to the Board of Trustees for their generous assistance and to the professionals working at the foundation for their hard work and flexibility, which have been so important this year.