Born in Barcelona in 1955, Santiago has a university degree in medicine but has since moved into other areas. He has been under-secretary to the Spanish Ministry of Culture, patron of the Prado and the Thyssen-Bornemisza, board member of state-owned company Expo 92, vice-president of a consortium in charge of "Madrid Capital Cultural" and vice-president of Terra Lycos, now owned by Telefónica. He has also been president of multimedia company Cirene S.A. and of publishing company Metáfora, and a partner in Galería Trama, an art gallery. He has recently been appointed representative of the Catalan government in Madrid.