As part of my goal to visit five new countries this year — bringing my total to 30 while age 30 — Matt and I were able to visit Andorra for the first time last month. Our two-week European road trip brought us through the capital, Andorra la Vella, on our way from Barcelona up to France.
I didn’t know much about Andorra before visiting. Which is probably why so many things about it were a surprise. All I really know was that it’s where Spanish people like to go skiing in the winter. Yep, that’s all I knew! But when I saw how close it was to Barcelona, I knew we had to go.
So if you’re planning your own visit to Andorra, here are 5 things you need to know before you go.
1. Andorra is Considered a Microstate
Maybe you aren’t sure where Andorra is, and if that’s the case, no one could blame you. Andorra is a tiny country nestled between Spain and France. Technically, it’s so small that it’s considered a “microstate.”
Microstates are defined as sovereign states that have very small land areas, very small populations, or both. Andorra has both, though it’s actually the largest of the six microstates in Europe. With a land area of only 181 square miles, or 468 square kilometers, Andorra is about 1/6 the size of Rhode Island (the U.S.’s smallest state.) Andorra’s population is about 78,000, which is about the same as the population of Rapid City, South Dakota.
Interestingly, citizens of Spain, France, and Portugal make up more than 2/3 of the population of Andorra. Which means that native Andorrans are a minority in their own country.
Andorra la Vella — the city we visited — is the country’s capital.
2. It’s Not in the European Union (EU)
While Andorra is sandwiched between EU countries Spain and France, Andorra is not part of the European Union. This is also true of the other microstates in Europe: Liechtenstein, Monaco, San Marino, and Vatican City. The official reasoning is that the EU was not designed with microstates in mind.
Andorra does use the euro as their official currency, however. (Think how annoying it would be to visit from Spain/France and need to change your money just for this tiny country.)
As I mentioned, we drove from Spain to Andorra, and then from Andorra to France. Typically, when you cross between borders of EU countries, it’s like driving between different states in the U.S.: It’s an open border. All you might see is a sign welcoming you to whatever country you’ve crossed into.
However, since Andorra isn’t part of the EU, the borders weren’t exactly “open.” Though they weren’t exactly closed, either. There were little checkpoints that were kind of like driving through a toll booth, with police standing outside, though they were just waving cars slowly through. On the way out of Andorra, as we crossed into France, there was a big stop for some reason way ahead of us. We thought we might need to get our passports out. But after about 15 minutes of inching slowly toward the front of the line, the border was “open” again and we drove through freely.
3. It’s a Tax Haven
Truthfully, this was the most surprising thing to me. Andorra la Vella was not a sleepy little Spanish- or French-seeming town that just happens to be in tiny Andorra. In fact, being in Andorra kind of felt like being in the duty-free section of an international airport. It turns out that Andorra is well-known as a tax haven in Europe.
Compared to neighboring Spain and France, taxes in Andorra are very low: The first €24,000 of income is tax-free; from €24,000 to €40,000 the rate is 5%. Above that, the rate is 10%. With Spain, Portugal, and France having “double taxation treaties” with Andorra, it means citizens of those countries don’t have to pay taxes to their home countries as long as they’re living and paying taxes in Andorra. See now why they make up two-third of Andorra’s population?
Additionally, the VAT (Value Added Tax), which is similar to sales tax in the U.S., is only 4.5%. In Spain, VAT is 21%, and in France, it’s 20%. And this explains why so many Spanish and French people were visiting Andorra la Vella to make shopping trips before heading back to their home countries.
Because of all this, while Andorra la Vella’s streets themselves looked similar to other European cities, the number of cigar shops and perfumeries, along with the somewhat artificial vibes, made me feel a bit like I was in the Las Vegas of Europe.
4. The Official Language is Catalan
I truly did not know what language is spoken in Andorra — I figured that, as small as it is, they wouldn’t have their own language. I thought they probably spoke either Spanish or French, thanks to its location in between both countries.
But it turned out they speak Catalan, the official language of Barcelona and the Catalonian autonomous community of Spain. This does make sense — though Catalan isn’t a mixture of Spanish and French, it shares many similarities with both languages.
However, knowing Spanish was still advantageous in Andorra la Vella. Some people knew English, but outside of the hotel staff, I could tell I was more confident in my Spanish than they were in their English. So we spoke Spanish most of the time while we were there. (Like I said earlier, many people who live in Andorra are Spanish, so it makes sense.)
5. If You Drive, You Might Need Snow Chains
Andorra does not have an airport, which means you’ll likely have to drive or take an organized day trip from Barcelona if you want to check this country off your list.
Obviously, we were on our road trip so we were driving. But when Gemma’s dad, Pep, picked us up from the airport in Barcelona and we told him about our road trip plans, he said: “You know you need snow chains, right?”
It turns out that, in Andorra, having either snow tires or snow chains are mandatory from November 1 to May 15 — regardless of whether there’s snow on the ground or not. If you get stopped while driving and aren’t able to show your snow tires or snow chains, you’ll be slapped with a €180 fine.
This definitely concerned me, and since we had a rental car, I figured snow chains were our best bet. I did a bit of research and learned that you can typically buy snow chains at gas stations or rest stops in/near Andorra. At our last rest stop before the border in Spain, we did see snow chains for sale for about €50, but the shop that had them on sale was closed.
Knowing that we were only going to be in Andorra for 48 hours… knowing that the car was going to be parked except when we were driving in and out of the country… and knowing that there was no snow on the ground or in the mountains… we decided to risk it and NOT buy snow chains.
And we were fine. But definitely make your own decision because I can’t promise you’ll be as lucky as we were! 🙂
So, there you have it. Those are five things you should know before you visit Andorra! Feel free to leave me a comment below if you have any questions.
-Cathy
This site contains affiliate links. I may receive a commission for purchases made through these links at no additional cost to you.
Leave a Reply