Botín was born in Santander, Cantabria, on the northern coast of Spain, the eldest of two sons of Emilio Botín y Sanz de Sautuola, born on 18 January 1903, and Ana María García de los Ríos y Caller. After attending as a boarding student the Jesuit school of Colegio de la Inmaculada, in Gijón, he studied Law and Economics at the University of Deusto in Bilbao.