Moody's Ratings

MATERIAL FACT

Banco Santander, S.A. (the "Bank") announces that on February 23, 2010, Moody's Investor Service has published its revised ratings for certain types of capital instruments of Grupo Santander, as detailed below:

§ Junior subordinated debt (Upper Tier II) A2 from A1

§ Preferred Shares Baa2 from A2

This revision is the consequence of the change in Moody's criterion with respect to preferred stock and Upper Tier II subordinated debt issued by Spanish financial institutions.

Short and long term ratings of Banco Santander remain unchanged at Prime-1 and Aa2 respectively, with a negative outlook.

Boadilla del Monte (Madrid), February 24, 2010