SkiSpots Andorra
The first guidebook in English dedicated to The Pyrenean Country
by Francis Johnston (Published by Thomas Cook Publishing: ISBN 1-841575-10-0) UK £8.99 US $14.95
Andorra's ski areas are some of the most extensive, best equipped and most modern in Europe. The country attracts more UK and Irish snowsports package holiday visitors than Switzerland, the USA and Canada combined! Yet ask most northern Europeans where Andorra is and nine times out of ten you'll be met with blank looks.
The country may be a tiny dot on the map of Europe (so small that its own name doesn't fit inside its borders on most standard scale maps), but far from being a poor forgotten backwater, the country is a wealthy, modern, independent state, with its capital Andorra la Vella often described as a high-altitude Monte Carlo.
Andorra (official name Principat d'Andorra) is situated high in the eastern Pyrenees between France and Spain. Although small, the country is still bigger than all the other European microstates put together: Liechtenstein is 157 sq.km, San Marino 61 sq.km, and the Principality of Monaco 1.5 sq.km. With an area of just 468 sq.km, Andorra is still tiny (the Isle of Man is over 20 per cent bigger), yet it attracts over 11 million visitors per annum. True Andorrans are actually outnumbered in their own country by residents of other nationalities: most inhabitants are of Spanish or French origin, with a sizeable Portuguese community and quite a few UK expats too. At the last census, 87 different nationalities were recorded amongst Andorra's inhabitants. Catalan is the state's official first language, but locals also speak Spanish and French and frequently switch between languages mid-sentence.
Andorra's inhabitants pay no personal income tax; the state has no currency of its own; no airports; no trains; no army; no navy and no airforce. Andorra also enjoys a favourable fiscal status as a duty-free state - it's no wonder therefore that Andorran's have one of the world's longest life expectancies. The country also has a unique sovereign status as a 'parliamentary co-principality': it has a head-of-government, but no president; it has two heads-of-state, yet neither are Andorran themselves. This odd state of affairs has its roots in the medieval feudal system and has survived largely unchanged since the 15th century, thanks in part to the country's isolated surroundings, encircled by a natural fortress of mountains, with 95 per cent of its border over 2000 m (6560 ft) above sea level.
More Information:
- Duty-free
- Ski areas
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