Andorran Businessman and Ex-General Councillor Josep Anton Ribes Dies at 84

Josep Anton Ribes Roca, a prominent Andorran businessman and former General Councillor, has died at the age of 84 after a prolonged illness.

The funeral will take place in strict privacy, with no public wake or ceremony planned. Ribes, born in 1942, joined the family business at a young age and played a key role in expanding it into decoration, home furnishings, design items and novelties under the Roca & Ribes banner. His daughters later took over, though he suffered the tragic loss of two of them this year, leaving only Cristina to survive him—a blow that compounded his health struggles.

In business, Ribes became closely associated with Roca & Ribes, spanning fuels, retail and import-export activities. He was instrumental in promoting the Andorran Chamber of Commerce and remained active in institutional circles through GESCO, the grouping of former syndics, General Councillors and communal councillors.

Ribes also left a mark on Andorran politics during pivotal moments of transition. Representing the Agrupament Nacional Democràtic (AND), he served as General Councillor for Andorra la Vella from 1990 to 1992, just before the Constitution's approval. In that pre-constitutional period, he chaired the Legislative Commission on Economy, Finance and the EEC amid major institutional and economic shifts.

He returned to the General Council in 1994 for the first constitutional legislature, holding his seat until 1997. During the constitutive session that January, he pledged to uphold the Constitution and joined colleagues in nominating Òscar Ribas Reig as head of government. Ribes helped drive the constitutional process and secured a narrow victory for the opposition in Andorra la Vella against Josep Pintat Solans. He did not stand in the 1997 elections, focusing thereafter on enterprise.

Ribes's passing marks the loss of a figure who bridged business success and political involvement through Andorra's modernisation era.