Andorra news for Cynics. Where is Andorra airport?

In his opening address to the new Parliament ministers the head of Government Espot outlined potential issues of the outcome of any referendum and referred to the examples of David Cameron where Espot opines that he was able to "control" the Scottish independence bid but Brexit ending up dooming him ( presumably because he was not able to "control" that referendum).  This word "control" conjures up Orwellian undertones and one wonders what "control" will be required for this referendum in what is an enthusiastic pro EU Government, I have not received such enthusiasm in recent casual conversations with José Publico.  I suppose at some stage the "control" will be forthcoming and as Espot pointed out this is not a 4 year term for a yes vote but a 50 year determination of the economic and social life here. Perhaps that is an admission that "control" will pass to Bristles, after all Bristles is all about control, and not toleration of the people of a micro mountain state, that has enjoyed neutrality and non interference for over 1300 years.....(Quote 2016).

From 1st January 2024 restaurants will no longer be allowed to operate open fires to cook the traditional meat dish Carns a la Brasa. This is part of the drive to make Andorra carbon neutral by 2030. The chairman of Andorra Restaurant Association called the decision outrageous but admitted that the emissions from chimneys may be the reason for the melting snows.  He added that there were probably enough alternatives to satisfy customers such as salads and soups. Farmers have also been advised that emissions from cows need to be controlled and that similar to tobacco quotas, there will be cow herd quotas.  In any case with the impending ban on restaurants cooking meat, the farmers fear for the future after 950 years of Andorran valley grazing.

So who has been paid to dream this one up?  Whilst funding for the La Massana bypass is delayed, the Government deems this to be a financialy justifiable statistic, and if,  God forbid,  it were to happen then we would be looking at about 35 La Massana bypasses.  With an 80,000 population Andorra is almost at a standstill at rush hours, imagine queuing for 3 days to get to the ski slopes where you would only be allowed to stand still on for 15 minutes; waiting for 2 weeks for a place on a bus that never moves anyway; fighting for the last baguette, I mean the whole statistic is a complete joke but April 1st it is not. Quite seriously the Goverment report states that if the urban development is properly controlled in terms of infrastucture, electricty, water etc then this 3.3m population would be the maximum scenario. Well let`s hope it is not properly controlled and that Government departments have more important issues at hand! STOP PRESS, China's population to hit 1,732,846,345, 901 under the same guidelines ( Yes, that is 1 trillion!!), but there again 72% of statistics are made up on the spot.....

The Andorra heliport has been proposed during its planning history to be built in various parts of Andorra, Patapou, Encamp, Sant Julia to name but a few locations that were actively considered. Due to local resident pressure these locations were quietly dropped and, in some cases, various technical studies were involved at whatever cost to whoever. It seems by placing the heliport at PAL there is no one up there to complain although judging by comments in the papers people are voicing strong feelings over this proposed location and the effect on the local fauna and flora. The original idea of a heliport for Andorra was to enable a scheduled helicopter route from Andorra to Barcelona in a similar fashion that Monaco enjoys from Nice, which with 50 scheduled flights per day every 15 minutes can cost as little as EUR130 including a chauffeur driven limousine to your destination on arrival.

But back to Pal, and the planned cable car from Andorra La Vella via the Pic de Carroi to Pal has now been shelved indefinitely (that is a very different story please do have a read), also the original plan to include a hotel at the top of PAL is also not going ahead. The planning committee are claiming that the more detailed construction plans are still going ahead, and any investor will require 7 to 9 EUR million to set up the infrastructure, and to date to my knowledge there have been no nibbles (and nibbles is not the name of the heliport cat). It is interesting to note that back in 2016 the infrastructure costs for Encamp Heliport were proposed to be 1.5 EUR million.

Given the exposure to the elements, the isolated location at the top of PAL, the lack of access infrastructure, one wonders what exactly the purpose of this heliport would be given that a scheduled service as originally planned is not going to happen from such a location. It cannot be used for medical emergencies, that is all set up from the landing pad on the hospital. It will not be used for police or military as there aren’t any. Forestry Commission and other chartered services are currently dealt with by Heliland in La Massana who also offer tourist flights. Some newspaper comments have reminded us that elections are not too far away, and these infrastructure schemes do come to prominence at suitable times. Watch this space!!!

Since Andorra has been listed by Moscow as a hostile country with the raft of sanctions against named Russian individuals and following the recent failed application by Andorra to join NATO because of no standing army, the Government has proposed to form a National Defence Force “Guardia Militaria” and re-apply. The Ministry of the Interior has confirmed that initially this will take the form of 12-month conscriptions for those aged 18 to 55. Financing has been agreed in principle for 2 personnel carriers and the construction of a barracks near Auvinyà. The spokesman also confirmed that the conscriptions will apply to all residents and citizens alike, whether passive or active stating that the wealth of international culture and experience that passive and active residents could bring to the table would benefit greatly for the plans and training for a National Defence Force. NATO has promised to re-examine the application from Andorra to join once the military infrastructure is in place. A Government source said that after almost 950 years of neutrality it is time for Andorra to face up to global issues and play its part in the security of Europe.

Unfortunately this was voted down in Parliament at 12.01 on 1st April 2022

Andorra's attempt to raise the average height of the country to tackle rising sea levels is coming to an end, The mayor of La Massana has announced that the dump (earth spoil and rocks) that has been in use since 2007 will close by the end of June this year. Hoorahhh for the long suffering residents that have endured day after day of over 180 lorries belching their way up such a beautiful forested area. Unfortunately this has put the hump on local developers who claim that 41 developments will have to stop until a new dump location can be found. It remains to be seen how much pressure will be brought onto La Massana Mayor and decision makers to either delay the closure or agree to a new location. We all pray that La Massana will not back down. On the downside the beautiful fields on the road to Arinsal where the deer used to roam by the Borda Raubert Restaurant will become industrial warehouses, and yes to access the warehouses the lorries will need to trundle through La Massana, already a nightmare for traffic in the absence of the postponed bypass. Perhaps all of the developers should be charged a bypass tax to get this done.

Someone in Government has estimated that there may be 5,000 apartments here in Andorra that have remained empty and unused for 2 years or more and in a valiant effort to relieve the rental market shortage the Government passed a law in 2019 requiring owners who have not used their premises for 2 years or more to declare that it is empty and pay an "empty tax". All of the apartment owners were given until the 31st December 2021 to comply. Well, so far since this law was introduced a grand total of 14 apartments have been declared (which means that the owner incurs and agrees to a standard empty tax of  5.05 EUR per square metre). The results which were expected to fill the Government coffers are so disappointing that the Ministry of Finance has described them as "disappointing".  Given that holiday homes and the like are exempted it beggars belief if anyone at all would volunteer to pay the Government anything at all. Perhaps this needs a rethink, and maybe include those with a garden who have not mowed the lawn for 6 months (Artificial turf exempted), or those who have a bird fountain that has not attracted any feathered friends for the past 3 months (Tits exempted).....Nuff said..