| The Baron of Claret | |
| Honorific Prefix: | The Most Excellent |
| Honorific Suffix: | OCIII OMC LH |
| Office2: | Spokesperson of the Government |
| Predecessor2: | Soraya Sáenz de Santamaría |
| Successor2: | Isabel Celaá |
| Party: | People's Party |
| Office1: | Minister of Education, Culture and Sport |
| Primeminister1: | Mariano Rajoy |
| Predecessor1: | José Ignacio Wert |
| Birth Name: | Íñigo Méndez de Vigo Montojo |
| Birth Date: | 21 January 1956 |
| Birth Place: | Tetuan, Spanish Protectorate of Morocco |
| Nationality: | Spanish |
| Spouse: | María Pérez de Herrasti y Urquijo |
| Parents: | Lieutenant-Colonel Íñigo Méndez de Vigo y del Arco; Paloma de Montojo y de Icaza y de León y Sureda, 2nd Countess of Areny |
| Residence: | Madrid, Spain |
| Occupation: | Politician, legal advisor, civil servant, jurist |
| Branch: | Army |
| Serviceyears: | 1977–1980 |
| Rank: | Lieutenant |
| Unit: | University Militias |
| Term Start1: | 25 June 2015 |
| Term End1: | 7 June 2018 |
| Term Start2: | 4 November 2016 |
| Term End2: | 7 June 2018 |
| Office3: | Secretary of State for the European Union |
| Term Start3: | 23 December 2011 |
| Term End3: | 26 June 2015 |
| Predecessor3: | Diego López Garrido |
| Successor3: | Fernando Eguidazu Palacios |
| Office4: | Member of the Congress of Deputies |
| Term Start4: | 13 January 2016 |
| Term End4: | 21 May 2019 |
| Constituency4: | Palencia |
| Office5: | Member of the European Parliament |
| Term Start5: | 19 October 1992 |
| Term End5: | 23 December 2011 |
| Constituency5: | Spain |
Íñigo Méndez de Vigo y Montojo, 9th Baron of Claret (born 21 January 1956) is a Spanish aristocrat and politician. He served as Minister of Education, Culture and Sport between 26 June 2015 and 1 June 2018, when a vote of no-confidence against Mariano Rajoy ousted the government. He was also the Spokesperson of the Government from 4 November 2016 until his departure on 1 June 2018.
Méndez de Vigo was born on 21 January 1956 in Tetuan, then part of the Spanish Protectorate of Morocco, where his father (descendant of the Minister of War Santiago Méndez de Vigo and his wife Ana Isabel Osorio y Zayas, Countess suo jure of Santa Cruz de los Manueles) was serving as a lieutenant in the infantry. He is descended, amongst others, from the Marquesses of Cubas, the Dukes of Riánsares and Queen mother of Spain Maria Christina of the Two Sicilies (María Cristina de Borbón),[1] and via his maternal grandmother, the novelist Carmen de Icaza,[2] he succeeded, on 8 January 1981, to her title as 9th Baron de Claret.[3] Íñigo Méndez de Vigo y Montojo is a fourth cousin once removed of Felipe VI through common descent from Queen Maria Cristina, Consort and later Regent of Spain.[4]
Méndez de Vigo has a brother, Pedro, an army officer, and two sisters, Beatriz and Valeria, one who is the secretary general of the National Intelligence Center, and the other for a non-governmental organisation.[5]
He completed his schooling at the German School in Madrid, as well as studying French language at the Académie française and learning English at the British Institute School. He graduated in law from the Universidad Complutense de Madrid in 1978.
Following the completion of his military service with the rank of lieutenant and after passing the public exams, he became legal advisor to the Cortes Generales in 1981.
He is married to María Pérez de Herrasti y Urquijo, since 8 January 2020 Marchioness of Albayda (with Grandeeship of Spain) and Marchioness of la Conquista.[6]
In 1982, at the age of 26, Méndez de Vigo was appointed director of interparliamentary relations for the Cortes Generales. In 1984 he accepted the position of special advisor to then-secretary general of the Council of Europe, Marcelino Oreja.
He joined the People's Party at its founding Conference in 1989, and stood unsuccessfully in that year as one of its candidates at the European election.
In October 1992 he was elected a Member of the European Parliament, a position he held until December 2011. He also served as a member of the People's Party's National Steering Committee.
Méndez de Vigo served as the European People's Party co-ordinator on the Committee on Constitutional Affairs from 1994 and on its Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs (2009–2011), as well as:
Between 2006 and 2007, Méndez de Vigo served as member of the Amato Group, a group of high-level European politicians unofficially working on rewriting the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe into what became known as the Treaty of Lisbon following its rejection by French and Dutch voters. In 2009 he was appointed president of the College of Europe.
In December 2011 he joined Mariano Rajoy's first government as Secretary of State for the European Union. In June 2015 he was appointed Minister of Education, Culture and Sport in replacement of José Ignacio Wert.[7] In November 2016, in the Second Rajoy Government, he was also appointed Spokesperson of the Government.
In March 2019 he left active politics.[8]
Méndez de Vigo has written numerous books and articles on Europe:
Méndez de Vigo also writes for ABC, and is an online contributor for El Economista.
| Coronet: | Coronet of a Baron. |
| Orders: | Order of Charles III collar |