He was born on June 22, 1930, in Madrid. He earned a Law degree from the University of Madrid, graduating with highest honors. He also completed a diploma from the International Tax Program at Harvard University (USA).

He joined the Public Prosecutor’s Office in 1954, graduating first in his class, and was assigned to the Huelva Court of Appeals until 1959, when he passed the competitive exam to join the State Technical Tax Inspectors Corps (now the State Financial and Tax Inspectors Corps).

He served as Technical Secretary General of the Ministry of Finance from 1969 to 1973; Undersecretary for Financial Economics (1973–1974); and President of the National Institute of Industry from February to September 1974, when he resigned for political reasons, joining the democratic opposition and founding the Federation of Social Democratic Parties, of which he was elected president.

He was Deputy Director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, Director of the journal Economía Financiera Española, and Head of Studies at the Center for Tax Studies. He was President for four years of the Spanish delegation that participated in the OECD’s annual review of the Spanish economy (1969–1973). He represented Spain in the GATT, the International Monetary Fund, the EEC, and numerous international commissions, and was a member of the International Committee of Twenty for the reform of the international monetary system.

He was a member of the “Commission of Nine,” representing the democratic opposition that negotiated the constituent process with President Suárez. He served as Minister of Finance from 1977 to 1979 and as Minister of Justice from 1980 to 1981.

In December 1982, he was appointed Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Banco Exterior de España, a position he held until his appointment as Minister of Foreign Affairs on July 4, 1985.

He was the founder of the Democratic Action Party, with a social democratic ideology, with which he ran in the 1982 elections as part of the PSOE lists.

He served as a Member of Parliament for Madrid in the first and third legislatures, and for Zaragoza in the second and fourth.

He published several books, including La España necesaria (1980) and Palabras en libertad (1982). He left his post as Minister of Foreign Affairs on June 23, 1992, and passed away in Madrid on August 7, 1992.

He was married to María Paz García Mayo.