At 31 December 2021, the Group had 96,246 own shares, compared to 103,947 own shares at 31 December 2020. The reduction in treasury shares over the period can be explained by the following movement:

    • On 10 April 2019, the Group signed a liquidity contract to manage its treasury shares with Banco Santander, which entered into force on 11 April 2019. The total number of shares allocated to the securities account associated with the new Liquidity Contract at 31 December 2021 is 96,246 shares and the current amount allocated to the cash account is 333,543 euros. At 31 December 2020, the number of shares assigned to the liquidity contract was 103,947 shares. The negative effect recorded in reserves for operations carried out in 2021 was 700 thousand euros.
    • In the 2021 financial year, the second cycle of the second long-term incentive plan was settled (Note 24). Settlement of the second cycle was made with a purchase of 189,962 treasury shares, with this amount matching the total number of shares handed over. The total recorded positive impact of these movements on equity was 759 thousand euros.