Government of Andorra
(updated 23.05.2019)
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Prime Minister: Xavier Espot Zamora
Xavier Espot Zamora joined the Government on November 7, 2011, under the first mandate of Antoni Martí, as a Secretary of State for Justice and Home Office and on July 25, 2012, relieved Minister Marc Vila leading the Ministry of Justice and Home Office. On January 4, 2016, he also assumed the post of Social Affairs Minister. He held office until 1st of March, when he resigned as a minister to dedicate himself exclusively to run for office in the general elections of April 7 as the representative of Democrats for Andorra. He is 39 years old, has a degree and a master’s degree in law from ESADE and holds a degree in Humanities from the Ramon Llull University. Before 2011 he served as a judge of the court of the first instance attached to civil section number 2, in the section of minors number 2 and in the former section of instruction number 5 and previously, between January and May of 2009, he worked as a judge in practice at the Court of Grande Instance of Toulouse and the Courts of First Instance of Barcelona.
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Minister of Presidency, Economics and Business: Jordi Gallardo Fernàndez
The president and head of the national list of the Liberals of Andorra for the general elections, Jordi Gallardo Fernandez, enters the Government to assume the position of Minister of Presidency, Economy and Business. He is 43 years old, holds a degree in History from the University of Lleida and a master’s degree in business management from IESE Executive MBA. In his political career, linked from a very young age to the Liberals of Andorra, he has been president of the Liberal Youth of Andorra, the Secretary and currently the president of Liberals of Andorra. He has been the Director of Cultural Heritage and Linguistic Policy (2005-2007) and Secretary of State for Cultural Policy (2007-2009). In the general elections of 2015, he was elected General Councillor by the national constituency.
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Minister of Finance and Spokesperson: Èric Jover Comas
The minister of Education and Higher Education during the last legislature has joined the Government as Minister of Finance and Spokesperson. Previously, he had been the director of the private foundation Observatory for the Sustainability of Andorra and director of the Agency of Quality of the Higher Education of Andorra. Èric Jover Comas, 41, is a Doctor of Environmental Chemistry at the University of Barcelona and has carried out research work at different university centers such as the Department of Applied Physics of the University of Barcelona, the Institute of Environmental Chemistry Research of Barcelona of the Superior Council of Scientific Research, the Department of Chemistry of the Vrije University of Amsterdam and the School of Chemistry of Nottingham. In the political sphere, he is the president of Democrats for Andorra and previously, he was also its general secretary.
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Minister of Foreign Affairs: Maria Ubach Font
Reappointed as Foreign Minister, a position she assumed in April 2017, in the middle of the last parliamentary term. She is 45 years old, holds a degree in Economics from the Universities of Toulouse and Grenoble and a master’s degree in International Relations and Action Abroad by the University of La Sorbonne. Maria Ubach Font entered the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1998, as permanent representative attached to the Andorra Representation to the Council of Europe. Between 2001 and 2006 she served as the first secretary of the Embassy of Andorra in Paris and a permanent delegate from the Principality for UNESCO. In 2006 she was appointed Director of Multilateral Affairs and Development Cooperation, a position she held until 2011, going on to hold the posts of Ambassador in France, the OIF and UNESCO from 2011 to 2015. Also, Ambassador of Andorra in the European Union, Belgium, Holland, Luxembourg and Germany from 2015 to 2017.
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Minister of Justice and Home Office: Josep Maria Rossell Pons
Josep Maria Rossell is the representative of the Ciutadans Compromesos party in the first Coalition Government since the approval of the Constitution and the deputy Prime Minister for Xavier Espot, as Minister of Justice and Home Office. He is 58 years old, has a law degree from the University of Barcelona and has served as a lawyer for more than two decades (1990-2011). In his career stands out the position as an official of the ecclesiastical court, as Secretary of the Courts Tribunal and as Appeals Judge from 1986 to 1989. He was also General Councillor in 1990, 1991 and 1992 and accounts holder and Secretary of the Comú of la Massana.
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Minister of Territorial Planning: Jordi Torres Falcó
Reelected at the position of minister of the Territorial Planning. Graduated in Economics at the University of Toulouse and with a PDD (Program for Management Development) at IESE, Jordi Torres Falcó, 43 years old, has developed his political career in several institutions. Between the years 2003 and 2007 he was a senior councillor to the Comú of Encamp, assuming the area of Finances. At the same time, he had held the presidency of the boards of directors of Gasopas (2000-2004) and Saetde (2009-2013). In the political sphere, he was Ambassador of Andorra in the Council of Europe during the years 2010 and 2011 and when he was appointed Minister of Territorial Planning in 2015, he resigned in order to run in the elections as number 4 on the national DA list.
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Minister of Social Affairs, Housing and Youth: Víctor Filloy Franco
He will head the Ministry of Social Affairs with competencies in Housing and Youth. Liked to Liberals d’Andorra, Víctor Filloy Franco is 45 years old and holds a degree in business administration. Until now, he has been the managing director of the Association of Contractors of Andorra, the Importers and Exporters of Industrial Goods, the Carriers and Fuels Transporters and the Waste Managers one, among others. Previously, he was the head of Volunteering in the Games of the Small States of Andorra 2005 and Director of Relief and Volunteering of the Andorran Red Cross. He received the prize of the International Olympic Committee in recognition of the fight against doping in the field of Sport. From his political career, stands out his work at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation and as coordinator of International Cooperation and Development Assistance from 2005 to 2007, he was Secretary of State for Sports, Youth and Volunteering between 2007 and 2009.
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Minister of the Environment, Agriculture and Sustainability: Sílvia Calvó Armengol
Reappointed as the minister of the Environment, Agriculture and Sustainability after holding the same position during the last legislature. At the age of 49, she has an Environmental Engineer degree from the Higher School of Engineers of Chambery and a Masters in Public and Private Business Administration from the University of Nice, she has developed a large part of her professional career at the Government Department of Environment. She took on the direction of this department from 2002 to 2005 and from 2007 to 2009. From 2011 to 2015 she was the councillor of DA, holding the presidency of the Legislative Committee of Economy and vice president of the Commission on Health and the Environment. As a councillor, she was also a substitute member of the Andorran delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and member of the Andorran section at the parliamentary assembly of Francophonie.
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Minister of Tourism: Verònica Canals Riba
The head of Tourism, Verònica Canals Riba, is 48 years old, holds a degree in economics from the University of Strasbourg, a master’s degree in business management (EMBA McGill – HEC Montreal, Canaan) and is registered at the College of Economists of Andorra. She has extensive professional experience, she was the director of large accounts at Adecco Spain (1995-1999) before working for Grandvalira-SAETDE as director of catering and complementary services (1999-2009) and later, as a general advisor ( 2011-2018). In 2016, she entered the Andorran Business Confederation as a member of the Board of Directors representing Ski Andorra and the Andorra Brand and Tourism Commission.
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Minister of Health: Joan Martínez Benazet
The Minister of Health graduated in medicine and surgery, has extensive experience as a specialist in pneumology. 64 years old, over the last two years he has been devoted to healthcare management as a healthcare director of the SAAS. Headed the Official Association of Doctors of Andorra from 1996 to 1998. In his political career stands out his work as General Councillor in 1989, during the last pre-constitutional legislature, and in the general elections of April 7, he ran for office in the parochial list of Ordino ACO + DA.
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Minister of Education and Higher Education: Ester Vilarrubla Escales
The Minister of Education and Higher Education began her political career in 2015, entering as a social and citizen participation councillor in the Comú of Andorra la Vella, the same year in which she was appointed a vice president of DA, a position she kept until now. She is a graduate of Teaching Sciences from the Blanquerna University of Barcelona (1985), of Catalan philology from the University of Barcelona (1989) and holds a master’s degree in applied linguistics from the University of Lleida. Since 2011 she has been the general director of Andorran Schooling and Education and formerly has been the director of the Andorran Batxillerat School (2009-2011), director of the Andorran Secondary School of Santa Coloma (1999- 2009), professor of Catalan from the Ministry of Education (1991-1999) and professor of Catalan at the College Sagrat Cor of Barcelona (1985-1991).
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Minister of Public Function and Administrative Reform: Judith Pallarés Cortés
Graduate of political science and administration from the University of Barcelona with training in public procurement and European grants from the College of Europe in Brussels. Judith Pallarès Cortés assumes the Ministry of Public Administration and Reform taking over from Eva Descarrega. She is 43 years old, a member of the Liberals of Andorra since 2001, she was the senior councillor for the Comú of La Massana from 2003 to 2007 and general councillor during the last legislature, between 2015 and 2019.
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Secretary of State for European Affairs: Landry Riba Mandicó
Secretary of State for European Affairs, Landry Riba, holds a bachelor’s degree in veterinary medicine from the University of Zaragoza and a postgraduate degree in the management of natural resources from the University of Cádiz. 43 years old, started in politics as an independent candidate with Democrats for Andorra in 2019. Director of Agriculture during the last 8 years and in a close relationship with the negotiation of the association agreement with the European Union in the last 4 years.
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