Consolidated Annual Accounts 2017

6 As part of an audit in accordance with prevailing legislation regulating the audit of accounts in Spain, we exercise professional judgement and maintain professional scepticism throughout the audit. We also: – Identify and assess the risks of material misstatement of the consolidated annual accounts, whether due to fraud or error, design and perform audit procedures responsive to those risks, and obtain audit evidence that is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis for our opinion. The risk of not detecting a material misstatement resulting from fraud is higher than for one resulting from error, as fraud may involve collusion, forgery, intentional omissions, misrepresentations, or the override of internal control. – Obtain an understanding of internal control relevant to the audit in order to design audit procedures that are appropriate in the circumstances, but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the Group's internal control. – Evaluate the appropriateness of accounting policies used and the reasonableness of accounting estimates and related disclosures made by the Parent's Directors. – Conclude on the appropriateness of the Parent's Directors' use of the going concern basis of accounting and, based on the audit evidence obtained, whether a material uncertainty exists related to events or conditions that may cast significant doubt on the Group's ability to continue as a going concern. If we conclude that a material uncertainty exists, we are required to draw attention in our auditor's report to the related disclosures in the consolidated annual accounts or, if such disclosures are inadequate, to modify our opinion. Our conclusions are based on the audit evidence obtained up to the date of our auditor's report. However, future events or conditions may cause the Group to cease to continue as a going concern. – Evaluate the overall presentation, structure and content of the consolidated annual accounts, including the disclosures, and whether the consolidated annual accounts represent the underlying transactions and events in a manner that achieves a true and fair view. – Obtain sufficient appropriate audit evidence regarding the financial information of the entities or business activities within the Group to express an opinion on the consolidated annual accounts. We are responsible for the direction, supervision and performance of the Group audit. We remain solely responsible for our audit opinion. We communicate with the audit committee of the Parent regarding, among other matters, the planned scope and timing of the audit and significant audit findings, including any significant deficiencies in internal control that we identify during our audit. We also provide the Parent's audit committee with a statement that we have complied with the applicable ethical requirements, including those regarding independence, and to communicate with them all matters that may reasonably be thought to bear on our independence, and where applicable, related safeguards. From the matters communicated to the audit committee of the Parent, we determine those that were of most significance in the audit of the consolidated annual accounts of the current period and which are therefore the key audit matters.