Correction Appended: Jan. 8, 2010
Banco Santander's no-nonsense headquarters sprawls across a dusty hilltop a little over 12 miles (20 km) from downtown Madrid. But it seems a world removed from Spain's capital, with its long naps and midnight dinners. Santander City's squat, red-brick bunkers don't try to make any lofty architectural statements, and its workers would be too busy to notice even if they did. Travel between buildings is underground on white shuttle buses. Cigarette breaks don't last long; the leafy inner courtyards have no place to sit. "This is a place to work," says a spokesman...