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Andorra
built 225 days ago
An autonomous and semi-independent coprincipality, Andorra has been under the joint suzerainty of the French state and the Spanish bishops of Urgel since 1278. It maintains closer ties to Spain... and Catalán is its official language. In the late 20th century, Andorra became a popular tourist and winter sports destination and a wealthy international commercial center because of its banking facilities, low taxes, and lack of customs duties. In 1990 Andorra approved a customs union treaty with the EU permitting free movement of industrial goods between the two, but with Andorra applying the EU's external tariffs to third countries. Andorra became a member of the UN in 1993 and a member of the Council of Europe in 1994. In 2002, Andorra shut down an incinerator that was emitting 1,000 times the dioxin levels permitted by the EU.
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Andorra’s official language is Catalan, which is spoken by about 30 percent of the population as a first language. Spanish is spoken by more than half the population, and a small percentage of residents speak French as a mother tongue. Few Andorrans speak English. Roman Catholicism, the religion of 89 percent of Andorrans, exerts a strong influence on social and cultural life.
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Until very recently, Andorra's political system had no clear division of powers into executive, legislative, and judiciary branches. Ratified and approved in 1993, the constitution establishes Andorra as a sovereign parliamentary democracy that retains the co-princes as heads of state, but the head of government retains executive power. The two co-princes serve coequally with limited powers that do not include veto over government acts. They are represented in Andorra by a delegate.
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Andorra has no currency of its own, but trading is done in euros. It is best to arrive with euros if you are coming from somewhere than the 12 European countries that use euros. Exchange rates can be high, especially if done through local shopkeepers. Service charges are usually included in most bills, but porters and waiters expect a further tip of 10%.
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Apart from Andri and Barblin, the characters in Andorra are not named, but are instead named after their occupation: the Teacher, the Priest, the Soldier, etc. After seven of the twelve scenes, individual members of the community come forth to a witness box and talk about Andri's death in the past tense, foreshadowing the play's tragic ending. Each townsperson attempts to rationalize their involvement in Andri's death (which they consider in hindsight unwarranted since he wasn't born a Jew). Only the Priest is ashamed of his actions and makes no excuses, aware that he of all people should not have stereotyped Andri, interpreting it as a breach of the second commandment, "Thou shalt not make an image." The Soldier's rationale, "I was only following orders", comes from the period of denazification when many ex-Nazi soldiers were forced to defend their anti-semitism after the fact. The Teacher and Barblin do not come to the witness box: the Teacher commits suicide and Barblin goes mad.
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For more than 700 years Andorra was ruled jointly by the leader of France and the Roman Catholic Bishop of Urgel in northwestern Spain. These leaders, known as the “princes of Andorra,” served as overlords of Andorra. The country formally remains a co-principality (jointly ruled by princes) to the present day. In 1993 Andorrans adopted their first constitution, which established the country as an independent democratic co-principality. Today, the president of France and the Bishop of Urgel remain Andorra’s heads of state, but their roles are largely ceremonial.
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Andorra