After a successful beginning as commercial and issuing bank, Banco de Bilbao faced the 1860s seeking to solidify its position as the leading financial institution in the city. It was a decade of turmoil in Spain, riddled by social and economic events that would put the bank’s strength and credibility to the test.

Every day at BBVA, more than 136,000 professionals do their best to meet the needs of 67 million customers. Most people only know about the experts in finance, law, personnel and facility management, and technology, but there are many other employees who quietly make important contributions. For instance: Rodolfo Vargas, a waiter at BBVA Bancomer—Mexico, who on many occasions has an impact on customers’ opinion of the bank.

Since 1984, the non-profit organization TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) has disseminated knowledge in an accessible and attractive way for spectators through chats around the planet. TedxMadrid is part of this movement with the sponsorship of Blue BBVA.

The Royal Spanish Society of Physics (RSEF) and the BBVA Foundation have once again partnered to recognize the most prominent scientific achievements in Spain. Offering a total cash prize of 50,000 euros, the Spanish Physics Awards are given in recognition of top-level research; motivate younger scientists; and foster the relationship between physics and education and business. These awards strengthen the commitment of the BBVA Foundation with science and represent a channel through which to support researchers that are able to create new materials and fight diseases.

As any visitor to my house will be able to tell, I love maps. Our living room is full of them. A Soviet map of Portsmouth (complete with Cyrillic labels) gazes across the room at old maps of South America and Italy. A large Mercator world map occupies an entire wall while Charles Minard's celebrated map of Napoleon's ill-fated Moscow campaign hangs in the hallway.

After its blockbuster success, the Prado Museum has finally closed the exhibition “Bosch. The 5th Centenary Exhibition”, which was exclusively sponsored by the BBVA Foundation. Almost 600,000 people came to see this series of important works by the Renaissance painter, which makes this the most visited exhibition in the gallery’s long tradition.

Garbiñe Muguruza has reached the WTA Finals in Singapore, the last tournament of the year, which pits the year’s eight best tennis players against each other. Now that she’s recovered from a twisted ankle she suffered in Linz, she will face off against Karolina Pliskova, Svetlana Kuznetsova, and the reigning champion, Agnieskza Radwanska. The WTA Finals mark the end of a great year for Garbiñe, who won her first Grand Slam after beating Serena Williams in Paris.

BBVA Compass added another brush stroke to its big picture commitment to the arts, becoming the lead corporate sponsor of “Degas: A New Vision” at the Museum of Fine Arts Houston.

The exhibition features more than 200 pieces by celebrated Impressionist Edgar Degas, taken from public and private collections from around the world. It is the most significant international survey of the work of Degas in nearly 30 years, and the Museum of Fine Arts Houston is the only U.S. venue to present the exhibition. It opened on Oct. 16.

It's hard to believe, but it’s already been a year since the last time we were here. We arrived at Singapore yesterday, and now we’re gearing up to, hopefully, do things right in the year’s last tournament. It will be extremely hard, because only the season’s 8 best players play in the WTA Finals. As you know, Serena will not be here, but the tournament is going to be just as hard.

Five BBVA Compass employees pulled on their cycling kits and logged more than 1,100 miles to raise money for The Center, a Houston-based agency that serves adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities.