Andorra

Andorra is a place that almost automatically raises the question of what a ‘country’ actually is.

Sandwiched between France and Spain, confined to a single valley in the Pyrenees, this microstate with a population of around 85,000 feels less like a traditional state and more like a historical construct that has survived to this day.

Indeed, its political structure is unusual: Andorra is a democracy in the form of a parliamentary monarchy, i.e. the monarchy is subject to the primacy of parliament and could be voted out of office.
With two heads of state – the President of France and the Bishop of La Seu d’Urgell in Spain – Andorra is the only state in the world in which two foreign officials jointly hold the office of head of state.

This condominium is characterised less by actual political influence than by its remarkable continuity (since 1278).
A medieval power compromise (paréage) was not replaced, but rather incorporated into the structures of a modern, democratic state and preserved to this day.

Geographically, everything takes place amidst the mountains. The roads follow the valley; space is limited, and yet infrastructure, trade and traffic are concentrated here. To us, this feels cramped.

At the same time, we drive through one of the highest tunnels in the Pyrenees (approx. 2,000 m above sea level), and outside, there is still snow in April – a clear indication of the altitude at which all this is taking place. Andorra is not part of the European Union, but uses the euro and is closely integrated economically. The language spoken is Catalan.

Differences are immediately apparent: many things are visibly, or upon our enquiry, slightly cheaper: fuel, alcohol and electronics. This reinforces the impression of a functional space – somewhere between transit, shopping and a short break. Tourists tend to come for winter sports.

All in all, Andorra remains a peculiar in-between space: politically unusual, geographically compact and economically distinct. Precisely for this reason, it is a place that raises more questions for us than it answers at first glance.