History
and culture
The earliest document known that mentions
Andorra is the act of consecration of
the cathedral of Santa Maria of Urgell
in 839, which mentions the parishes
(administrative and territorial divisions)
of Andorra as the fief of the Counts
of Urgell.
Between the 9th and 10th centuries,
the Andorran valleys belonged to the
counts of Urgell, who ceded them to
the See of Urgell in 988 in exchange
for other possessions in the Cerdanya,
although it was not until the 12th century
that Andorrans recognised the sovereignty
of the See of Urgell in an agreement
signed with the bishop Bernat Sanç
in 1176.
A period of struggle for sovereignty
over the Andorran valleys began, particularly
with the counts of Urgell, which caused
the bishops to call on the closest nobles
for aid and protection. As a result
of their cooperation with the bishop,
the House of Caboet received the valleys
of Andorra in fief.
Through the marriages of various generations,
the house of Caboet became linked with
the houses of Castellbò, Foix
and Béarn.
The 13th century was a time of bitter
struggle between the counts of Foix
and the See of Urgell to reduce the
rights of the bishops over Andorra.
Hostilities came to an end with the
signature of two arbitration judgements,
known as the Pariatges, signed in 1278-1288
between the bishop of Urgell, Pere d’Urg,
and the count of Foix, Roger Bernat
III.
The Pariatges establish the co-sovereignty
of the bishop of Urgell and the count
of Foix over Andorra: thus bringing
the Principality of Andorra into existence.
During the 15th century the counts of
Foix became the rulers of Navarre and
in 1589 Henry, king of Navarre and count
of Foix, viscount of Béarn and
lord of Andorra, became king of France,
so that the rights of co-lordship over
Andorra, whicA?h belonged to the counts
of Foix, passed to the crown of France.
In 1793, due to the feudal origin of
the bonds uniting Andorra with France,
the French republicans refused to maintain
relations with the Andorrans and receive
their tribute. In 1806, Napoleon re-established
the feudal tradition and the French
rights of co-lordship over the Principality
of Andorra.
With its historical and political development,
Andorra continues to be a co-principality,
with the bishop of Urgell and the president
of the French Republic as the co-princes
by personal title and in absolute equality.
From the creation of the Land Council
in 1419 as a first parliamentary form,
when representatives from all the parishes
met together to deal with the problems
of the community, and right up to the
present day, the Andorrans have not
ceased to move forward in modernising
and updating their institutions.
In the second half of the 19th century,
the so-called New Reform brought substantial
changes in the fields of politics and
administration; the right to vote was
given to all heads of houses and the
power of the General Council was increased.
In 1981, with the creation of the Executive
Council, the most recent and decisive
reforms in the Principality of Andorra
began; they would culminate in the desire
of the Andorrans to have a written Constitution.
The process ended on 14 March 1993,
with the first written Constitution
of Andorra, which transformed the Principality
into an independent state of law, democratic
and social, with a new definition of
the competences attributed to the institutions.
Culture
The timbers creak beneath your feet.
Shining
and polished as they were during those
years when the family lived here and
was representative of a whole and very
special lifestyle.
Secret
passages linking the baron’s rooms
with the kitchen, portraits full of
history, such as that one, of an enquiring
rather eccentric parent, who left a
written commission for a portrait of
his skull. A portrait that can still
be seen hanging on the wall, in a house
full of surprising corners, whispered
secrets and above all, history.
It’s
the Areny i Plandolit house at Ordino.
Culture
in Andorra, however, goes much further
than museums .
It’s
the culture of exhibition rooms and
the street. The culture of the various
theatre and music programmes, and also
activities promoted by cultural organisations.
The
2nd International Female Clowns Festival,
a unique initiative in the world, has
brought together this year more than
a hundred specialists in making you
laugh, filling the theatres and the
streets of the capital with merriment
for several days.
The
music loving public was delighted and
surprised to enjoy the skill and ability
of the pianist who opened the 10th Music
and Dance Season in the Commune of Andorra
la Vella. The success and high standard
year by year have made the Season an
essential note in the diary, with excellent
performances programmed each year.
Great
names such as Jaume Aragall, Barbara
Hendricks, Yehudi Menuhin, Narciso Yepes,
Jordi Savall, the Orfeó Donostiarra;
the Cuban National Ballet and the Cristina
Hoyos Ballet; Noa, Sabina, Compay Segundo
and Pedro Guerra; Madredeus, Cesaria
Evora, Serrat and Llach have entranced
the audience in the National Auditorium
at Ordino , in the musical season organised
by the Ministry of Culture. The large
number of performances programmed throughout
the year makes the audience a privileged
public, because the Auditorium, worth
a visit for itself, continually offers
a varied programme with high standards
in all the different styles.
Andorra
is a small country, but quite accustomed
to welcoming to its halls such distinguished
names of the theatre as Josep Maria
Pou, and great and successful actors
such as Paco Morán and Joan Pera,
for the Andorra la Vella and Sant Julià
de Lòria joint Theatre Season.
A
cool and distant audience, say the artistes,
but more and more prepared to be enthused,
with proposals from many different organisations,
such as concerts of music by Johann
Sebastian Bach in Holy Week and the
autumn Festival Narciso Yepesin Ordino.
But,
going on from the sales, the cheese,
the bargains and the clichés,
we have a whole country of culture to
discover.
Culture
which lives in the street. In every
concert, every dance, every member of
the audience.
We
can go to the cinema club every Wednesday,
to the theatre, to summer concerts at
the Casa de la Vall, summer evenings
in Sant Julià de Lòria
and rock nights on Thursdays at Poble
square, designed to introduce local
young musicians in the cool of the evening.
But
Andorra also generates its own resources.
The Andorran National Chamber Orchestra,
directed by Gerard Claret, and the National
Choir of Young Singers of Andorra, under
the mastery of Catherine Métayer,
are, now, two of the finest exponents
of classical music in the Principality.
You are in for a big surprise if you
have not yet heard them.
Literature
is also a genre with its own name in
the country. Authors such as Albert
Salvadó (El mestre de Kheops,
Els ulls of Anníbal, El punyal
del sarraí), Antoni Morell (Set
lletanies de mort, La neu adversa),
Joan Peruga (Ultim estiu a Ordino) and
Josep Enric Dallerès, with remarkable
poetic works, have sent their words
far beyond the Pyrenees, and plastic
artists such as Judith Gaset Flinch,
Alfons Valdés, Francisco Sánchez
and Àngel Calvente regularly
exhibit at international fairs.
Festivals and traditions
Throughout the year, Andorran cultural
tradition is revived at all the fiestas
mayores in the villages of the Principality
and also for some commemorative events.
Andorran
folklore is represented by the typical
dances such as la marratxa (Sant Julià
de Lòria), Santa Anna's dance
(Escaldes-Engordany), el contrapàs
(Andorra la Vella), and also the sardana
which can be danced in all the squares
in the Principality, especially at festivals.
To
understand the combination of Andorran
festivals and customs you should take
into account the special characteristics
of Catalan culture, its geographic location
and history.
Almost
all the popular festivals and traditions
coincide with religious festivals and
natural cycles on Earth:
· St. George's Day (Sant Jordi),
when roses and books are given as presents.
·
Festa del Poble, celebrated on St. John's
Day (Sant Joan) and marking the summer
solstice.
·
La fiesta de Sant Esteve, patrón
de la parroquia de Andorra la Vella
·
St. Lucia fair, where materials for
making traditional Christmas crêches
and typical Christmas products are on
sale.
Being
a country suited to tourism, the Principality
hosts international, prestigious meetings
throughout the year, demonstrating Andorran
cultural life.
Apart
from exhibitions dedicated to Andorra
and "art without frontiers",
the parish comuns organize well-known
artistics activities of prestige:
· Jazz concerts, flamenc, spanish
pop, local modern music
·
Country Music Feast, Bagpipers' Meet,
typical dances, dance exhibition
·
Street theatre
·
The Festival of Classic Music in Ordino
(September)
·
The Season of Music and Dance in Andorra
la Vella (from November to May)
Political Information
The Andorran Constitution establishes
in article 43 that the co-princes are
jointly and indivisibly the heads of
State and its highest representation.
The
co-princes are, personally and exclusively,
the bishop of Urgell, currently Joan
Enric Vives Sicília, and the
president of the French Republic, currently
Jacques Chirac.
The
most remarkable feature of the Andorran
system is precisely this, that there
are two heads of State, a feature that
has come down to us from the Pariatges
and is the result of the singular historical
development of Andorra.
The
co-princes preside over and moderate
the public powers and exercise their
functions with the counter-signature
of the head of Government or the speaker.
Among
other things, they call the general
elections, give accreditation to diplomatic
representatives, sanction and promulgate
the laws, and give consent for the State
to bind itself by means of international
treaties, in the conditions fixed by
the Constitution.
The
forerunner of the General Council was
the Land Counsil, created in 1419, in
which representatives from all the parishes
(administrative and territorial divisions)
met twice a year.
The General Council represents the Andorran
people, exercises the legislative function,
approves the State budgets and promotes
and controls the Government’s political
actions.
The members are elected by universal suffrage,
free, equal, direct and secret, for a
term of four years.
The General Council is composed of general
councillors, between twenty?eight and
forty?two, half of whom are elected in
equal numbers for each of the seven parishes
and the other half are elected by national
ballot.
The Speaker’s Office or Sindicatura
is the organ controlling the General Council.
The speaker and deputy speaker may not
hold their posts for more than two consecutive
mandates. The General Council meets in
traditional sessions, ordinary and extraordinary,
and functions in plenary form and through
committees.
For the General Council to adopt resolutions
validly, it must be in session with the
attendance of at least half the councillors.
The legislative initiative corresponds
to the General Council and to the Government.
Three Communes jointly or a tenth of the
national electoral census can present
propositions for law to the General Council.
As soon as the General Council approves
a law, the speaker advises the co-princes
so that, between the eighth and fifteenth
day following, they may sanction it, promulgate
it and order its publication in the Official
Journal of the Principality of Andorra.
The Government directs the national and
international policies of Andorra. It
also directs the administration of the
State and exercises the power of regulation.
The Government of Andorra is made up of
the head of Government and the following
The Government elabora el presupuesto
general y lo somete a la votación
del Consejo General.
Andorra is divided for administrative
and territorial purposes into seven parishes:
Canillo, Encamp, Ordino, la Massana, Andorra
la Vella, Sant Julià de Lòria
and Escaldes-Engordany.
The communes represent and administrate
the interests of the parishes, approve
and execute the commune budget, fix and
carry out the public policies and manage
and administrate all the assets in commune
ownership. They have their own resources
and receive transfers of capital from
the general State budget, for the purpose
of guaranteeing financial autonomy.
Language and education
The
only official language in Andorra is
catalan, , but as a result of the linguistic
diversity of the inhabitants, especially
with the predominance of Spanish, there
are increasing problems in the use of
Catalan as the normal language in social,
trading and personal relationships,
where Spanish is more general in many
situations. French is also spoken, but
much less (at Pas de la Casa it is dominant),
and Portuguese.
In contrast with its lack of dominance
in some situations in the social and
trading world, Catalan is used to a
very high degree in such fields as shop
signs, advertising and the media in
the country, the liberal professions
and also most written communications
in trade and business.
It can be said that the official language
is exclusively used in the institutional
and political life of the Principality
of Andorra, such as public appearances
by politicians, documents produced by
public institutions, parliamentary sessions
and in the communes, the courts and
police actions, etc.
In education, the history of the country
has resulted in a varied and original
structure. Nowadays, three educational
systems coexist up to school-leaving
stage: Andorran, French and Spanish.
In the Spanish educational system there
are the Spanish schools, three religious
schools and one private school.
In
national education there are the following
institutions:
L’Escola
Andorrana, (The Andorran School), opened
in 1982, offers education from kindergarten
right through to school-leaving age.
One of the characteristics of this school
is language teaching based on four languages:
Catalan, French, Spanish and English;
La
Formació Andorrana (Andorran
Training School), where the objective
is to contribute knowledge of the language
and culture to the foreign educational
systems;
La Formació d’Adults (Training
for Adults), which offers free courses
in language and culture to the adult
population and businesses, and La Formació
Bàsica d’Adults (Basic
Adult Education), an opportunity for
those who were not able to study when
they were young;
La
Formació Professional (Career
Training), which offers teaching in
professional fields suited to the current
social and economic situation in Andorra,
formed by the Institut d’Inserció
(Job-finding Institute) and the Escola
d’Informàtica (Computer
School); and Further education, represented
by the Escola Universitària d’Infermeria
(University School of Nursing), the
Escola Superior d’Informàtica
(Advanced Computer School) and thel
Centre of Estudis Virtuals (Centre for
Virtual Study), forming the University
of Andorra.
The
possibilities are completed with specific
programmes addressed to young people
outside the school world and there is
also an educational programme for prison
inmates.
School
is compulsory up to the age of 16. All
the schools are free except one private
school, and are to be found in all the
parishes (administrative and territorial
divisions).
Andorran tourist offices abroad
Office de Tourisme de la Principauté
d'Andorre
Director:
Sr. Enric Riba
26, avenue de l'Opéra - 75001
Paris
Tel.: (01) 42 61 50 55
Fax: (01) 42 61 41 91
E-mail: OT_ANDORRA@wanadoo.fr
Web: www.andorre.fr
Agregaduria de Comerç i Turisme
de l'Ambaixada d'Andorra a Espanya
Agregat
de Comerç i Turisme: Jesús
Ramírez Palomo
C/ Alcalá, 73 - 28009 Madrid
Tel.: +(34) 91 431 74 53
Fax: +(34) 91 577 63 41
E-mail: j.ramirez@embajadaandorra.es
Web: www.andorra.es
Oficina de Turisme del Principat d'Andorra
Director:
Sra. Maria Marina
World Trade Center Barcelona
Moll de Barcelona, ed. Nord, pl. baixa,
27
08039 Barcelona
Tel.: +(34) 93 508 84 48/9
Fax: +(34) 93 508 84 50
E-mail: turismeandorra@ctv.es
Web: www.andorra.ad
Office de Tourisme de la Principauté
d'Andorre
Director:
Sr. Serge de Behr
10, rue de la Montagne - 1000 Bruxelles
Tel.: (32) 02 502 1211
Fax: (32) 02 513 3934
E-mail: tourisme@andorra.be
Web: www.andorra.be
Embassy
of Andorra to France
Permanent Delegation of Andorra next
to the UNESCO
51
bis, rue de Boulainvilliers
75016 - Paris
Tel: (+33) 1- 40 06 03 30
Fax: (+33) 1- 40 06 03 64
E-mail: ambaixada@andorra.ad
Web: www.amb-andorre.fr
Embassy
of Andorra next to the European Communities
Embassy of Andorra to Benelux
Embassy of Andorra to Denmark
Embassy of Andorra to Slovenia
10, rue de la Montagne
1000 - Bruxelles
Tel: (+32) 2- 513 28 06
Fax: (+32) 2- 513 07 41
E-mail: ambassade@andorra.be
Web: www.andorra.be
Embassy
of Andorra to Spain
Embassy of Andorra to Finland
Embassy of Andorra to Morocco
C/
Alcalá, 73
28009 - Madrid
Tel: (+34) 91- 431 74 53
Fax: (+34) 91- 577 63 41
E-mail: embajada@embajadaandorra.es
Permanent
Mission of the Principality of Andorra
in the United Nations
Embassy of Andorra to the Unites States
of America
Embassy of Andorra to Canada
Two,
United Nations Plaza, 27th. floor
New York, N.Y. 10017
Tel: (+1) 212- 750 80 64
Fax: (+1) 212- 750 66 30
E-mail: andorra@un.int
Permanent
Representation of the Principality of
Andorra next to the European Council
10,
Avenue du Président Robert Schuman
67000-Strasbourg
Tel: (+33) 3- 88 35 61 55
Fax: (+33) 3- 88 36 85 77
E-mail: rpand@andorra.ad
Permanent
Mission of the Principality of Andorra
in the Office of the United Nations
in Geneva
1-3,
rue Chantepoulet
CH-1201 Genève
Tel: (+41) 22- 732 60 60 / 732 60 64
Fax: (+41) 22- 732 60 68
E-mail: mission.andorra@ties.itu.int
Embassy
of the Principality of Andorra to the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and
North Ireland
63
Westover Road
London SW 18 2RF
Tel: (+44) 208- 874 48 06
Fax: (+44) 208- 874 49 02
E-mail: andorra.embassyuk@btopenworld.com
Delegation of the Principality of Andorra
next to the OSCE
Kartnerring 2A/13
1010 Vienna
Tel: (+43) 196 109 09 30
Fax: (+43) 196 109 09 50
E-mail: amb.andorra@prioritytelecom.biz
|
The total area of the country
is 468 km2. The highest
point is the peak of Coma
Pedrosa at 2,942 m, and
the lowest point is the
frontier post with Catalonia,
at 838 m. Andorra has the
mountainous and abrupt relief
typical of high mountain
areas.
