It was originally created in 1956 as "Metalúrgica de Santa Ana, S.A." to manufacture agricultural machinery, but soon, in 1961, it began to produce off-road cars under licence from Land Rover in its factory in Linares sold under the name "Land Rover Santana".[7] It manufactured various comparable models, which were enormously popular among Spanish farmers and ranchers, and exported many to South America, North Africa and the Middle East, always with the authorisation of the British licensee, which had been unable to meet the demand of these regions.

In 1989, after financial difficulties forced Land Rover to cancel its participation in Santana Motor, the company began to market versions of the Land Rover under the Santana brand, such as the Santana 2500, an off-road vehicle that had broad appeal throughout Spain's varying terrain during the 1990s. The last models manufactured under the name "Land Rover Santana" were sent at the request of the Spanish Government as a donation to Colombia, as were a few others to Mexico.