B O T Í N F O U N D A T I O N

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In 1964 Marcelino Botín-Sanz de Sautuola

and his wife Carmen Yllera established the

Marcelino Botín Foundation to “respond

to the needs and help foster social devel

opment” in Cantabria. Today, after fifty

years of progress and still true to the ideas

of its founders, the Botín Foundation is

Spain’s leading private foundation in terms

of the scale of its investment and the far-

reaching impact of its programmes.

The mission of the Botín Foundation is to contribute to the global devel-

opment of society. To achieve this, it manages a variety of programmes in

education, science, rural development, culture and social work. Its sphere

of action focuses primarily on Spain, though it also carries out interna-

tional projects in Ibero-America and the USA, among others.

The Foundation’s programmes reflect its conviction that talent is the

main driving force in the development of society and, accordingly, it con-

tinually strives to stimulate and support that talent.

THE FOUNDATION

Carmen Yllera Marcelino Botín

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*Accounts audited by Deloitte

Emilio Botín

Board of TrusteesPRESIDENT

Emilio Botín

TRUSTEES

Jaime Botín

Emilio Botín O’Shea

Javier Botín O’Shea

Ana Patricia Botín O’Shea

Paloma Botín O’Shea

Carmen Botín O’Shea

SECRETARY AND MANAGING DIRECTOR

Iñigo Sáenz de Miera Cárdenas

INVESTMENT BUDGET OVER THE LAST 6 YEARS (in millions of Euros)

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VenuesThe head office of the Botín Foundation is located in Santander at

number 1 Pedrueca Street in what used to be the Sanz de Sautuola

family’s house. The Foundation’s exhibition venue is in the nearby the

Marcelino Sanz de Sautuola Street.

The Promontorio, home of the banker Emilio Botín-Sanz de Sautuola

and his wife Ana García de los Ríos, and the Villa Iris are two of the

city’s most emblematic venues. The first is used for institutional acts

and the second holds exhibitions and workshops.

The Technology Transfer Unit and part of the Foundation’s staff oper-

ate from the city of Madrid.

In addition to these venues, the Foundation also manages the Casa

Rectoral in Puente Pumar, which acts as its operations centre in the

Nansa Valley and as an important meeting place and socioeconomic

stimulant for the area’s residents.

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EducationSince 2004 the Foundation, in collaboration with the Government of Can-

tabria, has been implementing its Responsible Education Programme at more

than 100 schools in the region. The programme encourages children and

teenagers’ physical, emotional, intellectual and

social development. The objective is to make

students feel more comfortable with themselves

and to interact in a positive manner with others,

thus improving academic performance and

avoiding potential psychosocial risks. It employs

its own materials and methodology and builds upon international activities

such as the United Nations Programme Model: Global Classrooms.

In 2009, in order to better promote its activities and

findings, the Foundation launched the Botín Platform for

Innovation in Education, an international work group

that exchanges information about experience and

practical improvements in the field of education.

Since it was established the Foundation has helped

young people from Cantabria to further their educa-

tion, and some 2,200 students have benefited from its grants so far. In addition to this, it has developed an Ibero-American

Institutional Reinforcement Programme, its first fully inde-

pendent project in America, the objective of which is to

better equip and support the vocation of highly prom-

ising young people who wish to pledge themselves to

their countries by working in the public services.

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ScienceThe Botín Foundation’s main endeavour in this field is to help improve

the technological transfer process from basic research to society at large.

Since 2003, the Foundation has been working with some of Spain’s

foremost biomedicine research teams on an ambitious project designed

to accompany the researchers on every rung of the productive knowl-

edge ladder.

The Foundation provides funding for groups to enable them to devote

their efforts and resources to the transfer process. At the same time the

Foundation’s own team of specialists in this field actively seeks out and

identifies “new ideas”, assesses their industrial and commercial viability

and supports product development to help them to reach the market.

In an effort to share its expertise, the Foundation provides resources and

programmes to enhance the training of technological transfer specialists.

Lastly, the Foundation has put in practice a

new “Mind the Gap” programme, to allow

the development of new companies based on

advanced technology discovered by these

Spanish science groups.

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Arts and cultureIn parallel to a full and wide-ranging schedule of concerts and confer-

ences, the mainstay of the Foundation’s cultural department is its Arts programme centred on research, training and promoting the arts in exhi

bitions. Research focuses on exploring and promoting Spanish drawing;

training is achieved by means of grants and visual arts workshops that

have become well-established and internationally renowned.

The exhibition venue, the Founda-

tion’s showcase for its Arts pro-

gramme, organizes shows of the

work being done, thanks to the insti-

tution’s support, by grant awardees.

The venue also hosts exhibitions

related to its Spanish drawing re-

search initiative, not to mention a

solo show featuring work by the art-

ist who has been selected to direct

the visual arts workshops each year. In summer the venue holds an inter-

national exhibition, thus allowing the work of leading artists and institu-

tions to be shown in Santander.

Information, photographs and videos about these activities may be found

on the website (www.fundacionbotin.org). It also features the artists who

have been grant awardees and workshop leaders, the artists with exhibi-

tions and the art catalogues published by the Foundation.

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The Music activities organized by the Founda-

tion include two composition prizes (Manuel

Valcárcel International Piano Composition Prize

and the Arturo Dúo Vidal International Cham-

ber Music Composition Prize), as well as the

Centre for Musical Research of Cantabria and

a concert programme which is one of the

city’s cultural highlights.

The Foundation runs a public library specializ-

ing in Music and Contemporary Art, and also

catering to Education and Rural Development.

The library contains 28,000 records includ

ing in-depth studies, printed music, sound re-

cordings and videos and it subscribes to 83

periodical art and music publications.

Along similar lines, in collaboration with the

University of Cantabria and other institutions, the Foundation has devel-

oped an innovative semantic web which has assembled and arranged a

large amount of data about the region’s historical and cultural heritage.

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developmentRural development and heritageOne of the original objectives of the Foundation was the conservation

of the heritage of Cantabria and it has significantly contributed to both

preserving and understanding it.

In the year 2005 it set out to respond to the challenges of rural develop-

ment by designing a model of global sustainable growth and putting it into

effect in a specific area of Cantabria: in the Nansa valley and Peñarrubia.

In this manner the Nansa valley and Peñarrubia Heritage and Land Pro-

gramme established a methodology, highly innovative in its transversal

approach, in five successive phases, from defining and choosing the land to

the practical implementation of a plan of action focussing on socioeconom-

ic incentivisation. Its aim is to promote the global development of the valley

by employing resources found in its own nature, landscape and culture.

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developmentSince the Foundation was established it has

followed the express wish of its founders by

carrying out a Social Work programme in Can-

tabria with the assistance of other institutions

that have experience of working directly with

the communities they care for.

The Foundation is the driving force behind var-

ious programmes including schemes for chil-

dren, assistance for immigrants, caregiving for

the elderly, prevention of drug addiction and

the integration of disabled people.

In addition, it has developed its own job placement plan for the unem-

ployed in institutions in the third sector. The objectives of the plan are to

locate talented individuals who have lost their jobs because of the effects

of the crisis, to find positions for them in foundations and associations

and to stimulate the development and professionalization of the third

sector which currently provides employment for 6% of Spain’s salaried

work force.

Social work

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Observatory of trendsThe mission of the Botín Foundation’s Observatory of Trends is to explore

subjects relating to the development of society more fully and to strive

to define the trends marking the processes of change in the contempo-

rary world.

Its main fields of attention are socioeconomic and political develop-

ment, education, the management of hydrologic resources (Observatory

of Water), the evolution of artistic and social ideas and the new horizons

of science.

The work being done regarding trends

in the field of science, moreover, is

planned in partnership between the

Collège de France Chair and the Botín

Foundation. This collaboration allows

leading French and Spanish scientists

to discuss and exchange their ideas.

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Strategic projects and collaborationsIn addition to running its own programmes the Botín Foundation collab-

orates with other institutions to support initiatives of particular strategic

importance for Cantabria and the rest of Spain.

The Comillas Foundation is a project that aims to benefit Spanish

society as a whole by creating, in a privileged spot in Cantabria, the

International Centre of Higher Spanish Studies (Centro Internacional

de Estudios Superiores del Español, CIESE).

The united World College of Spain, which will be located in Comillas,

is set to become a driving force behind the region’s development and

to lead its quest for excellence in education.

The Pro-CNIC Foundation brings together some of the country’s

leading companies and foundations to present a united front to sup-

port the National Centre of Cardiovascular Research.

In addition, the Botín Foundation collaborates with social and cultural

institutions, especially universities, with which it shares objectives and

approaches.

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Each and every one of the activities carried out by the Botín Foundation

since it was launched is due to the effort of all the people who have

worked and collaborated with the institution. Their engagement with

the Foundation’s mission and with the global development of society

make it possible to continue supporting talent and working towards a

better future. The trustees would like to take this opportunity to express

their thanks to all those who strive to faithfully respond to the founders’

wishes today.

future

future

FUNDACIÓN BOTÍNPedrueca, 1 · 39003 Santander (Spain)

Tel. +34 942 226 072 · Fax +34 942 226 045fmabotin@fundacionbotin.org | www.fundacionbotin.org