| Office: | Minister of Defense |
| Primeminister: | Felipe González |
| Predecessor: | Narcís Serra |
| Successor: | Gustavo Suárez Pertierra |
| Term Start: | 13 March 1991 |
| Term End: | 28 June 1995 |
| Office1: | Minister of Health and Consumer Affairs |
| Primeminister1: | Felipe González |
| Predecessor1: | Ernest Lluch |
| Successor1: | Julián García Valverde |
| Term Start1: | 26 July 1986 |
| Term End1: | 13 March 1991 |
| Birth Place: | Madrid, Spain |
| Alma Mater: | Universidad Complutense de Madrid |
| Nationality: | Spanish |
Julián García Vargas (born 1945) is a Spanish economist and socialist politician who served in different cabinets of Spain.
Garcia was born in Madrid in 1945.[1] He received a degree in economic sciences from the Universidad Complutense de Madrid in 1968.[2]
Garcia is an economist and healthcare expert by profession. He is a member of the Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE).[3] He began his career in private sector and then joined public sector where he worked until 1986.[2]
He was appointed health minister on 26 July 1986 in the cabinet led by the Prime Minister Felipe Gonzales[4] and was in office until March 1991.[2] As of 2012 he was considered to be one of the three Spanish health ministers who significantly improved health-care system of the country.[5] He was appointed defense minister on 12 March 1991 in a cabinet reshuffle.[1] He retained his post in the July 1993 reshuffle.[6] However, Garcia resigned from office on 2 July 1995 due to press reports revealing that the military secret services (CESED) had been spying on individuals and public figures.[1] [7] Gustavo Suarez Pertierra succeeded Garcia as defense minister in a cabinet reshuffle.[8]
After leaving office García served as the special envoy of the European Union in Mostar, Bosnia, from November 1995 to April 1996 for the implementation of the Dayton Peace Agreement.[2] He was the president of the Spanish Association of Defense Technology, Aeronautics and Space Administration (TEDAE) until his resignation in June 2013.[9] As of 2005 he was the president of the Spanish Atlantic Association.[10]
García has been board member of several companies.[2] As of 2021 he was the president of a foundation entitled FEINDEF, the International Fair of Defence and Security (es|Feria Internacional de Defensa y Seguridad), which organizes yearly meetings in Madrid with the representatives of major international arms companies, high-ranking military commanders and political figures.[11]