Just a few years ago, Spanish lender Bankia was on the brink of collapse. Now, thanks to an aggressive restructuring programme, the bank is hitting its targets and has ambitions to compete with national giants Santander, BBVA and CaixaBank.

There is an optimistic feeling among the CEOs of Spain's leading banks, as profits and domestic conditions improve. With the European Central Bank's imminent asset quality review expected to be passed with flying colours, the country's lenders are now looking beyond survival and towards growth, both domestically and internationally.

The European Central Bank has helped assuage fears of an imminent eurozone breakup, but sovereign, supranational and agency debt management officials must still contend with ratings downgrades and difficult political and fiscal situations in a number of countries. The Banker hears from a range of EU issuers both inside and outside the eurozone.

Emilio Botín, the chairman of Banco Santander, explains how the bank's geographical diversification and philosophy of operating standalone subsidiaries has helped it thrive during the worst years of the crisis, and stand it in good stead for the future.

Only Spain's largest banks have been able to absorb the losses from the country's troubled real estate sector, which has left the main lenders in a strong position to increase their market share.

Spanish telecoms giant Telefonica took a risk coming to market just before the European Central Bank announced the details of its bond-buying plans in September, but the risk paid off with investment pouring in.