In
the right place at the right time
The in the 1950s, international tourism
boomed. Finding themselves in the right place at the right time at last,
Andorrans set about the business of parting tourists from their money.
They opened hotels, restaurants, and stores. When winter sports became
popular, they invested in ski lifts and built resorts. And when the visitors
decided they’d like a holiday or permanent residence in the country, Andorran
developers built houses and apartments for them. Today, Andorra’s 14,000
citizens are a mere 22% of the population. The other 50,000 full-time residents
include 29,000 Spaniards, 6,000 French, 4,000 Portuguese, and sizeable
communities of British, Dutch, Germans, Scandinavians, and others. The
International Club has over 30 different nationalities among its membership.
A financial guru told me that he
cautions his clients against changing their country of residence just to
avoid tax. “Those who do,” he says, “usually throw in the towel after a
couple of years. People have to understand what they’re getting into. If
they don’t like the country, then they’re not going to be happy, even if
there’s a big saving.” Truth is, Andorra has so much to offer that
few people regret moving there, even though avoiding taxes may have been
their original motive. For starters, it’s one of only a handful of countries
in the world where the price of living in fiscal paradise doesn’t include
either tropical sunburn or a permanent case of sand-in-the-shoes. If you’re
the type that has to be dragged to a beach, you’ll appreciate the point.
Downhill skiing in the Pyrenees
Andorra’s mountains are not just
scenic backdrops, either. In winter, the country’s seven resorts provide
some of the best downhill skiing in the Pyrenees with drops of 3,000 feet
and runs of a couple of miles or more. The almost five-month season attracts
over a million visitors but with high-speed chair lifts, I rarely have
to queue for more than a few minutes, even at the busiest times.
If skiing isn’t your thing, there
are plenty of other options. The country’s seven comuns (parishes) all
seem to compete with each other in building bigger and better facilities.
Canillo has its Palau de Gel (Ice Palace) where, for a few dollars, you
can ice-skate, play squash, work out in the gym, or perspire in a sauna.
Other parishes offer Olympic-size pools, indoor tennis courts, and climbing
walls.
From spring through fall, there’s
even more to do. Tennis, horseback riding, mountain-biking, and hunting
are popular. There’s an 18-hole golf course just across the border in Spain.
The rod-and-reel crowd has an almost limitless choice of places to fish.
The principality is famous for its trout and a respectable catch is almost
guaranteed from its lakes and rivers, some of them stocked from Andorra’s
own hatcheries.
Walking country
Most of all, this is walking country.
The highest peak (Coma Pedrosa) is 9,708 feet. Energetic hikers have few
problems getting there or to the many others over 9,000 feet, such as Pic
de la Serrera or Font Blanca. It takes me four or five hours to reach the
top.
Along the way, there are streams
and waterfalls, forests and meadows carpeted in blue gentian, narcissus
and wild red rhododendron. At around 7,000 feet, pristine lakes nestle
in basins scraped from the rock by ancient glaciers and at the summits
and I watch golden eagles flying elegant figures-of-eight in an improbably
blue sky.
On days like this, you wonder
whether it gets any better.
One reason we chose to settle in
Andorra was its many differences from Canada. As well as freedom from taxes,
we wanted a complete change in lifestyles. We weren’t disappointed. Living
in Andorra is like living in northeast Spain, with whose people it shares
a common culture. This means, amongst other things, there’s always a festival.
Party time
Sometimes, it’s the residents of
just a single street throwing a party—a festa del barri.
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One
night during our first visit to Andorra, we returned to the hotel late
after dinner. The bar was still open, so we decided we’d have a nightcap.
As the cognac level climbed up my glass, I realized the barman would continue
to pour until I told him to stop. A small thing, but it seemed to symbolize
the country’s hospitable attitude. A few months of research later,
we returned, bought a house in the mountains, and stayed eight years.
Apart from the accommodating barman, why did we choose to settle in Andorra?
Maybe I should begin by explaining where this place is to be found.
The tiny, independent Principality of Andorra (it has a seat at the U.N.)
consists of 188 square miles of mountains, valleys, forests, and lakes,
all shoehorned into the Pyrenees between France and Spain. The entire country
is ringed with mountains. 
