Joan Planes Vila was born in Estamariu (Alt Urgell – Lleida) in 1941. Until the age of 17 he studied at the Conciliar Seminary of La Seu d’Urgell. He later moved to Barcelona, where he graduated in Industrial Engineering. In 1969 he co-founded the company Astral, S.A. de Construcciones Metálicas, which he managed and developed into the current Fluidra, and from 1972 he personally initiated the process of internationalisation of the company, leading its flotation on the stock exchange in 2007. Chairman of Fluidra’s Board of Directors until 2015 and Honorary President of Fluidra since 2015.
President of the Fluidra Foundation, which he created in 2016 with the aim of working on projects linked to the social pool, culture and sustainability.
Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Fundació Privada Orquestra Simfònica del Vallès and, subsequently, of the Fundació Òpera de Catalunya.
In 2013 he received the Creu de Sant Jordi, one of the highest awards that a person can receive from the Generalitat de Catalunya. Member of the Board of Directors of the Associació Orfeó Català. Member of the Barcelona Chamber of Commerce between 1998 and 2010.
In 2022, he founded the Fundació Planes Corts to promote the economic, social and cultural development of the Vall del Port Negre, in the Catalan Pyrenees, where it has its origins.
