Narcís Serra

{{Infobox officeholder

|name = Narcís Serra

|image = (Narcís Serra) Felipe González y el ministro de Defensa durante la conmemoración de la Pascua Militar (cropped).jpg

|nationality =

|office = Deputy Prime Minister of Spain

|term_start = 13 March 1991[https://www.boe.es/boe/dias/1991/03/13/pdfs/A08398-08398.pdf Real Decreto 299/1991, de 12 de marzo. BOE 13 March 1991]

|term_end = 3 July 1995[https://www.boe.es/boe/dias/1995/07/03/pdfs/A20232-20232.pdf Real Decreto 1100/1995, de 2 de julio. BOE 3 July 1995]

|predecessor = Alfonso Guerra

|successor = Francisco Álvarez Cascos

|office1 = Minister of Defence

|term_start1 = 3 December 1982[https://www.boe.es/boe/dias/1982/12/03/pdfs/A33339-33339.pdf Real Decreto 3295/1982, de 2 de diciembre. BOE 3 December 1982]

|term_end1 = 13 March 1991[https://www.boe.es/boe/dias/1991/03/13/pdfs/A08398-08398.pdf Real Decreto 300/1991, de 12 de marzo. BOE 13 January 1991]

|primeminister1= Felipe González

|predecessor1 = Alberto Oliart Saussol

|successor1 = Julián García Vargas

|office2 = 113th Mayor of Barcelona

|term_start2 = 19 April 1979

|term_end2 = 2 December 1982

|predecessor2 = Manuel Font i Altaba

|successor2 = Pasqual Maragall

|office3 = Regional Minister of Town and Country Town and Public Works

|term_start3 = 5 December 1977

|term_end3 = 22 March 1979

|predecessor3 = Office created

|successor3 = Lluís Armet i Coma

|office4 = Member of the Congress of Deputies

|term_start4 = 22 June 1986

|term_end4 = 15 January 2004

|constituency4 = Barcelona

|birth_date = {{birth date and age|1943|05|30|df=y}}

|birth_place = Barcelona, Catalonia

|death_date =

|death_place =

|spouse =

|party = PSC (PSOE)

|primeminister = Felipe González

|primeminister3 = Felipe González

|president4 = Josep Tarradellas

}}

Narcís Serra i Serra (born 30 May 1943) is a Spanish economist and politician, serving as Deputy Prime Minister of Spain from 1991 to 1995. Born in Barcelona in 1943, he was one of the leading figures of Catalan socialism during the Spanish transition to democracy, and he was one of the founders of the Socialists' Party of Catalonia, the Catalan branch of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE).

Early life and career

Narcís Serra hailed from a Catholic family of Catalan origin.{{cite journal|author=Richard Wigg|title=Socialism in Spain: A Pragmatic Start|journal=The World Today|date=February 1983|volume=39|issue=2|page=63|jstor=40395475}} Prior to his political involvement, and before obtaining his PhD in economics at the Autonomous University of Barcelona, he worked as a research fellow at the London School of Economics from 1970 to 1972. He later became a professor at the Autonomous University of Barcelona (where he taught Economic Theory).{{cite web |title=Narcís Serra |url=https://www.ibei.org/en/narcis-serra_14396|website=ibei.org |publisher=Institut Barcelona d'Estudis Internacionals |access-date=22 November 2019}} He is an Honorary Fellow at the London School of Economics.{{cite web |title=Narcís Serra CV |url=https://www.ibei.org/en/cv-narcis-serra-eng_52977.pdf|publisher=Institut Barcelona d'Estudis Internacionals}}

Political career

Serra served as the first democratically elected Mayor of Barcelona after Franco's dictatorship (from 1979 to 1982).

In the wake of the socialist victory in the 1982 Spanish general election, Serra was appointed Minister of Defense by Prime Minister Felipe González, and he succeeded Alfonso Guerra as Deputy Prime Minister in 1991. During his tenure as Minister of Defense, he promoted the legislative changes that resulted in the democratization of the Spanish armed forces, their effective integration in the NATO structure, and the participation in international missions for the first time. He resigned as Deputy Prime Minister in 1995, but remained a Member of the Spanish Congress of Deputies representing the Constituency of Barcelona until 2004. He first gained his seat in Parliament in the 1986 Spanish general election.{{Cite web

|url= http://www.publispain.com/biografias/biografias/Narcis_Serra_i_Serra.htm

|title=Narcís Serra i Serra. Biografía de Narcís Serra i Serra |language=Spanish

|work=publispain.com

|accessdate=9 August 2010

}}

Life after politics

In 2005, Serra was appointed president of Caixa Catalunya, a public savings bank. Following his resignation in 2011, he was tried for criminal mismanagement and abusive payments while he was chairman of the ailed savings bank. He was absolved of all charges in February 2019.

Serra has been the chairman of the Institut Barcelona d'Estudis Internacionals (IBEI) since its foundation in 2004. He currently teaches courses on Strategy, Military Reform and Peace Building as part of the Master studies offered by the institute.{{cite web |title=Narcís Serra |url=https://www.ibei.org/en/narcis-serra_14396 |website=ibei.org |publisher=nstitut Barcelona d'Estudis Internacionals |accessdate=22 November 2019}}

Other activities

=Corporate boards=

Telefónica Chile, Member of the Board of DirectorsCarlos Segovia (30 April 2017), [https://www.elmundo.es/economia/2017/04/30/5903a222e5fdea1f518b45b8.html Telefónica renueva a Narcís Serra en su filial de Chile hasta 2020] El Mundo.

=Non-profit organizations=

European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR), Member[http://www.ecfr.eu/council/members Members] European Council on Foreign Relations.
European Leadership Network (ELN), Senior Member{{Cite web|title=Senior Network|url=https://www.europeanleadershipnetwork.org/networks/network-members/|access-date=2020-09-21|website=www.europeanleadershipnetwork.org|language=en-GB}}