Eduardo Serra Rexach

Born in Madrid on December 19, 1946, he studied at the Ramiro de Maeztu Institute in Madrid, where he received the alumni medal in 2010. He graduated in Law in 1968 from the Complutense University of Madrid and in 1974 he joined the State Attorneys’ Corps, ranked first.

In 1977, he joined the technical cabinet of the Minister of Industry, Alberto Oliart, under Adolfo Suárez, of the Democratic Center Union. In 1982, the new president, Leopoldo Calvo-Sotelo, appointed Oliart Minister of Defense, and Oliart chose Serra as Undersecretary. In 1982, the Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party won the elections. President Felipe González Márquez appointed Narcís Serra as Minister of Defense, who retained Serra Rexach as Undersecretary until 1984, when he appointed him Secretary of State for Defense. As deputy minister at the Ministry during Spain’s integration into NATO, Serra Rexach managed the budget until his resignation in 1987.

In July 1987, he joined the Foundation for Help Against Drug Addiction (FAD), alongside then-Lieutenant General Manuel Gutiérrez Mellado. From 1993 to 1996, he served as president of the Institute of International Affairs and Foreign Policy (INCIPE). In 1996, the Popular Party won the elections, and the new president, José María Aznar, appointed Serra Minister of Defense until 2000, when he was replaced by Federico Trillo-Figueroa. One of the main milestones of those four years at the Ministry was the launch of the Spanish mission in Kosovo, which would last ten years. He was president of the Elcano Royal Institute of International and Strategic Studies.