Narcís Serra hailed from a Catholic family of Catalan origin.[5] 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 professor at the Autonomous University of Barcelona (where he taught Economic Theory).[6] He is a Honorary Fellow at the London School of Economics.[7]
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 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.[8]
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.[9]
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