Íñigo Méndez de Vigo y Montojo, ninth Baron of Claret is a Spanish aristocrat and politician.
He studied at the German School in Madrid, at the Académie française and at the British Institute School. He graduated in Law from the Universidad Complutense de Madrid in 1978 and he became legal advisor to the Cortes Generales in 1981. In 1982, he started his political career being appointed director of inter-parliamentary relations for the Cortes Generales. In October 1992, he was elected a Member of the European Parliament, a position he held until December 2011.
During that period, he was member and member of the Bureau of the Group of the European People's Party (Christian-Democratic Group) and of the Group of the European People's Party (Christian Democrats) and European Democrats; he was member and Vice-Chair of the Committee on Institutional Affairs, member of the Delegation to the EC-Austria Joint Parliamentary Committee, member of the Committee on Regional Policy, Regional Planning and Relations with Regional and Local Authorities, member of the Delegation for relations with the Maghreb countries and the Arab Maghreb Union, member of the Delegation to the EU-Poland Joint Parliamentary Committee, member of the Subcommittee on Security and Disarmament, member of the Committee on Constitutional Affairs, member of the Delegation for relations with the countries of Central America and Mexico, member of the Delegation to the EU-Armenia, EU-Azerbaijan and EU-Georgia Parliamentary Cooperation Committees, member of the Delegation to the EU-Bulgaria Joint Parliamentary Committee, member of the Committee on Economic and Monetary Affairs, member of the Delegation for relations with Iran.
Méndez de Vigo worked as a lecturer in Constitutional Law, lecturer in Community Law, he was Jean Monnet Chair in European Institutions and Honorary Jean Monnet Chair from 2004.
After his appointment to the Spanish Government in December 2011, Méndez de Vigo served as Secretary of State for the European Union. In June 2015, he was appointed Minister of Education, Culture and Sport. In November 2016, he was also appointed Spokesperson of the Government.