Íñigo de la Serna

Íñigo Joaquín de la Serna Hernáiz (born 10 January 1971 in Bilbao) is a Spanish politician and civil engineer. He was the Mayor of Santander between 2007 and 2016 and served as Minister of Public Works from 4 November 2016 to 1 June 2018.

Biography

Although born in Bilbao, he has been a resident of Santander during all of his life. An only child, he attended the San Agustín College in the Cantabrian capital and spend his COU year in Ohio, United States as an exchange student, before joining the University of Cantabria School of Civil Engineering, where he graduated as civil engineer. He worked in the Apia XXI engineering office.

His career in politics began in 1999 when he was named chief of the cabinet of the Councilor of Environment of the Government of Cantabria, José Luis Gil. In 2003 he took the office of the Department of Environment, Water and Beaches in the City Council of Santander. In 2004, he was elected Deputy Secretary of the People's Party of Cantabria, and later contested the municipal elections of 2007. Íñigo de la Serna was elected Mayor of Santander, obtaining 15 of the 27 councilors/aldermans (the PSC-PSOE obtained 7 and the PRC the remaining 5).

When he was elected, he became the second youngest mayor of a provincial capital of Spain after Agustín Conde (Conde was elected Mayor of Toledo in 1995 with 30 years), since he was only 36 years old. He obtained an absolute majority with 52% of the votes, this was the first time that this had happened. In the municipal elections of 2011, he revalidated an absolute majority, more broadly, obtaining 18 of the 27 councilors (the PSC-PSOE obtained 5 and the PRC the remaining 4). He became the fourth most voted mayor of Spain obtaining the highest record of his party in the city with 56% of the votes.