Net profits for five biggest Spanish banks in 2010 fall sharply. - In Spain, the sluggishness of the economic recovery compacted with the sovereign debt and property crises have had an impact on the annual results obtained by the Spanish financial sector. The five biggest Spanish banks: Santander, BBVA, Banco Popular, Caja Madrid and La Caixa all registered a net cumulated fall of 5%, to €15 billion. Banco Popular and La Caixa were particularly affected and saw their profits plunge by 23% (€590 million) and by 13.4% (1.3 billion) respectively in 2009. The best performers were those carrying out business outside Spain. Therefore, Santander and BBVA made profits of 43% and 46% respectively in Latin America and significant increases in profits in this geographic zone made up of emerging fast growth potential countries. (I.L./transl.fl)