Troubles around the France / Andorra border
Stretching about 55 kilometers south of France between the departments of Ariège and the Pyrenees Orientales, the France / Andorra border crosses the Andorran parishes of La Massana, Ordino, Canillo and Encamp. On the road, the only crossing point between the two countries is located in El Pas de la Casa, a town of the Principality that culminates at about 2,000 meters, by the pass of the Port d’Envalira.
Centuries of good coexistence without obstacles
In 2012, after years of good neighborhood without any text or any document that specifically establishes the symbolic barrier between the two states, France and Andorra have decided to officially delimit their borders via the signing of a border agreement. But at the time of the final decision, the small municipality of Porta, located in the Eastern Pyrenees, has expressed its disapproval of the route.
France / Andorra border questioning
The establishment of the France / Andorra border does not achieve unanimity in Porta. The reasons for the anger of the French people? A reduction in the area of their land generating a brake on the expansion of their tourism projects. The French municipality has expressed dissatisfaction with the initiative in progress.
France / Andorra border: the municipality of Porta denounce
This piece of altitude territory located around the Pas de la Casa is strategically revealed to the extent that it hosts one of the sources of Ariège, which allows a fairly wide area to be fed in water. However, the municipality of Porta planned to build shortly, in this precise place, a hotel project containing 300 accommodations. With the new layout of the border between France and Andorra, it is possible then that Porta loses control over the sources in Ariège, a major inconvenience because these sources are considered necessary to feed future accommodation.
The Pas de la Casa, crossroads of the Pyrenees with multiple advantages
Apart from the natural resources and the great environment from which the Pas de la Casa benefits, we have to admit that the first Andorran people after the Franco-Andorran border benefit from many virtues. The reasons for success that cannot be denied.
Summer as winter, its ideal location and geographical location attract visitors seeking authenticity and large spaces. From November to March, its altitude gives it a blanket of quality snow while its sunny weather allows you to enjoy the joys of winter sports in an atmosphere of the brightest. Accessible from the Pas de la Casa, the Grandvalira ski station is part of the most famous in Europe and offers snow fans the largest ski area in the Pyrenees (210 km of pistes)!
Non-exhaustive list of the multiple strengths of the Pas de la Casa
In the Pas de la Casa in Andorra, every month of the year, your holidays will necessarily be successful. Here is a summary of the attractions of the town located on the border between France and Andorra:
• An offer of consistent and excellent quality accommodation for all budgets (hotels, apartments, etc.),
• The practice of the excursion in a great environment thanks to the numerous high mountain trails marked and accessible for all levels of practice,
• A wide range of sports leisures, such as skiing in winter or mountain biking in summer,
• The discovery of a culture and heritage of precious wealth, typical of Andorra (monuments, museums, parties, etc.),
• Incredible and incomparable purchasing conditions, the Principality benefits from a low level of appraisal of merchandise: alcohol, cigarettes, gastronomy, jewelry, luxury, perfume, ready-to-wear, etc.
And why not invest in Andorra in the Pas de la Casa?
Destination in vogue, the Pas de la Casa attracts tourists today but also investors. More and more people do not hesitate to settle in Andorra to enjoy fully attractive living conditions. It has to be recognized that the conditions for obtaining resident status are quite simple. In addition, real estate profitability is currently very high in Pas de la Casa. If you want more information on this subject, do not hesitate to contact Frontera Blanca, a real estate agency specializing in transactions in Andorra and especially in the Pas de la Casa.
Historic walkways between countries. The co-princes of Andorra.
We hope that the controversy related to the layout of the border between France and Andorra, at the level of the Pas de la Casa, will end quickly. Indeed it would be a shame if good relations between France and Andorra deteriorated after so many centuries of cordial understanding, especially that the history of the two countries is closely linked. The Principality has also managed to be in close collaboration with Spain. The borders between Andorra, France and Spain have been drawn in the 1860s, mainly during the Treaty of Bayonne (1866).
The origins of the Principality date from the time of Charlemagne, in 780, and are based on an unprecedented system, the pariah, a contract of feudal law that grants the distribution of the Andorran throne to two co-princes: the Catalan bishop d’Urgell and the chief of the French State (at the beginning the County of Foix).
Political system
In Andorra, the executive branch is secured by the head of the Government, the General Council, an assembly that includes a joint representation of the population that is distributed in the 7 parishes: Canillo, Encamp, Ordino, La Massana, Andorra al Vieja (capital ), Sant Julia de Loria and Escaldes-Engordany. Each of these parishes is administered by two “Consols” that every 4 years elect the members that meet in the General Council.
