A Big Hand for the Fresh and Familiar : Santana satisfies his deep-rooted fans while Mana builds thunder.

“The cultural divide has been broken,” declared Armando Macios, standing in line at a snack bar during intermission at the Arrowhead Pond on Wednesday.

The fortysomething loan official from Orange had come to the Anaheim arena to see Santana with his friend, Jeff Hills, visiting from San Francisco.

But once there, they discovered Mana, the wildly successful Mexican rock en espan~ol band. Previously unaware of Mana, they simply thought it was some opening act Santana had invited along for the show. The friends were stunned to find not only that the act was the co-headliner for this nearly sold-out, four-night stand, but was also the bigger draw, with the vast majority of the largely young audience singing along with almost every word of the group’s reggae-pop.

Mana is nothing if not a crowd-pleaser. Though the band’s music is very derivative--largely of the Police--and doesn’t earn the respect such adventurous Spanish-language rock acts as Cafe Tacuba enjoy, it packed its show with hook-driven sing-alongs, charming exuberance and solid professionalism in such pop anthems as “Donde Jugaran Los Nin~os?” (Where Will the Children Play?) and “Rayado del Sol.”

The band came off as a crossover natural--without needing the Ricky Martin-like concession of singing and speaking in English. The music and personality have plenty of international pop appeal as it is, and the musicians succeeded in impressing Santana fans, a prime purpose of these shows, as well as reinforcing Carlos Santana’s place as a pioneer and popularizer of Latin-derived rock.

“It’s a great band, great sound,” Hills said, wondering if Mana had any CDs out.

But was it a two-way street Wednesday? Did Santana impress the Mana fans?

He didn’t have to. They already knew him.

During the intermission before Santana’s closing set, sisters Christine Diaz, 16, and Olivia Isabelle Diaz, 14, were buying Mana T-shirts and posters in the lobby. But rather than being on their way out, they were eager to get back to their seats for the veteran guitarist’s set. The reason: their uncle, Joe Zamora, who had accompanied them to the show. Thanks to him, they said, Santana was something the teenagers have heard growing up.

“I’m here mainly for Mana,” said Christine. “But I like Santana. I’ve heard the music all my life.”

And they were not alone. Though some holes appeared in the audience during Santana’s set of swirling, guitar-percussion excursions mixing soul, salsa and psychedelic influences, there wasn’t as much attrition among the young fans as might have been expected. (The two acts are taking turns as the closer on their tour together.)

And Santana did not tailor his music for the young rock en espan~ol fans, using, as always, his Latin roots as a jumping-off point for a variety of rock, Afro-Caribbean, blues and jazz elements, all built around his distinctive guitar virtuosity. Bringing out members of Mana and opening act Ozomatli (which pumped the crowd up with its boisterous mix of Latin styles and hip-hop touches) to help out on some songs, Santana and his band encapsulated a distinguished 30-year career, from such early hits as “Black Magic Woman” and “Oye Como Va” to “Corazon Espinado,” a collaboration with Mana from Santana’s new “Supernatural” album.

The irony is that Tijuana-born, Bay Area-raised Santana, whose music, as well as Ozomatli’s, is far more Latin than Mana’s, which, other than occasional melodic or rhythmic touches, is only en espan~ol as far as the lyrics are concerned.

Given that, the one misstep of the night was Mana’s element of nationalism, a sharp contrast to Santana’s no-borders approach. Drummer Alex Gonzalez wasn’t dealing too much hype in declaring Anaheim and L.A. as “la capital de rock en espan~ol,” but singer Fernando Olvera pushed the matter when he stated that California was “stolen from Mexico,” but “as it turns out, this land continues to be Mexico.”

As new fan Marcios said, the cultural barriers are down. Why build them up again?

* Santana and Mana, tonight and Saturday at the Arrowhead Pond, 2695 E. Katella Ave., Anaheim, 7:30 p.m. $40.50. (714) 704-2500. Mana plays Sept. 23-25 at the Universal Amphitheatre, 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, 8:15 p.m. $43-$58. (818) 622-4440. Santana plays Oct. 3 at the Hollywood Bowl, 2301 N. Highland Ave., 7 p.m. $23-$53. (323) 850-2000.