The other side of the Andorran postcard

Andorra =  SECURITY & SAFETY  - NATURE - NO INCOME TAX - NO GST , IVA or TVA -  VERY QUIET - PEACEFUL -
PICTURESQUE -  SUNSHINE -  LOW COST OF LIVING - VERY LOW TAXES ON PROPERTY -
VERY SNOWY ON WINTER. - MANY SKY RESORTS -
unpleasant =  TOO MUCH SHOPPERS from Spain & France on week-ends or public holidays....

"Andorra, el Pais dels Pirineus". Its name says it all. It is a wonderful little country, with wonderful people in it, and sovereign. Has its own laws, its own culture, its own language. Its history is impressive, it is one of the oldest countries of all Western Europe. The quality of life is fantastic. It is not complicated to live in Andorra, it is comfortable. Has all the services and  accessibility to them, The functionaries or government employees are very gentle, helpful and efficient. Doing red tape in Andorra is a breeze in comparison with so many other countries in Europe and America. It is a civilized country. At the same time is quite cosmopolitan. Without doubt, one of its best assets is nature, nature and more nature. To me, Andorra is a fabulous place to live in, it makes me feel free.

The other side of the postcard, is the difficulty for foreigners to get a work permit. But until certain point, it is quite understandable, that is why they keep a very low unemployment rate In Andorra.  Almost everybody works, not a lot of government help, money wise, but by the same token, there are not nearly as many taxes as in other countries. I would say that one of the worst aspects of the bad side of Andorra is the generalized bad attitude of the majority of its immigrants towards their host country (Andorra), unfortunately.

Andorra has tons of skiing, outdoorsy stuff to do and is very family-centric (great for families with kids). It's relatively cheap to live here and provides tax benefits to high-net-worth individuals. They have some of the best medical care in Europe, and the mountain air provides certain health benefits as well - so dodging taxes is not the only reason some athletes come to live here!

The biggest problem I have had living here is that NOT a lot of people speak English, which is both understandable and not a problem if you are willing to make the effort to learn Spanish or French, which most people can speak. Coming from living in the UK, where everybody can be very formal and super polite, it was also a bit of a culture shock as Andorrans are WAY more direct and straightforward; but I actually prefer that.

I also agree that some expats have a negative attitude towards the country, perhaps due to the language barrier, but I simply threw myself in completely and made every effort to get comfortable as soon as we showed up. Granted, I am a bit of a serial expat myself so this is "not my first rodeo" as we say in the USA!

I gladly read Jenna's article about Andorra. I am glad that she chose this beautiful country to live in and to make it better, if possible.

I just would like to remind her and other foreigners and immigrants who live and will live in Andorra that Andorra is not Spain, neither France, it is just Andorra, a completely different country with a completely different language, culture, history, economy, and ways of living than the other two countries mentioned by her. So, the question is not whether "a lot of people speak English" or Spanish, or French in Andorra or not. But rather that the language of Andorra is Catalan, and if someone is going to be willing to learn a different language , the best bet is to learn the national one directly, instead of the other two. There is no excuse whatsoever for a foreigner not to learn Catalan, the Andorran language, it is offered freely in all the Andorran territory.

I also came from the USA among other countries, and i believe as an immigrant, that the best thing we can do for our new host country and for ourselves (immigrants) is first of all, to recognize and make it clear to others that Andorra is Andorra, and should not be confused with other neighboring countries. The sooner we all understand and assume so, the better off we shall all be.

So Jenna, please, if you are going to make any effort to adapt to your new country, do it right, your new country in which you live, is no other than Andorra, which is completely independent, sovereign and democratic. And believe me, once you do that, then you will feel a lot more comfortable, you will feel really at home.

And by the way, welcome to Andorra, you, your family and your friends.
Txabi

Txabi,

You have misunderstood what I said about Andorra. For most people who are not familiar with the regional language here of Catalan (many Americans have not heard of Andorra - but that's more a comment about the American school system not focusing enough on geography!), Spanish or French is an easy and practical way to start to integrate themselves - especially for Americans who are more likely to be familiar with Spanish or French. People here speak Spanish and French very well and I've found so far through conversations with professionals and locals, they're happy to communicate in either of these languages since they are interested in getting their point across. Further, there are many people who work in here in Andorra in grocery stores, businesses and in the ski resorts who do not speak Catalan as they're from Portugal, Spain or countries in South America, so Spanish is their go-to language when they first come here.

Nowhere in my post did I say that Andorra is either Spanish or French, as I'm quite aware of its history and how France/Spain enforced speaking both of their own languages on small regions like Andorra (as well as areas that speak Occitan and Basque) throughout the early modern period. It is indeed free to learn Catalan here, but not everyone learns from these types of language courses and sometimes outside help (like books and language software) can be limited. If an English-speaking expat wants to comfortably begin to integrate and Catalan is proving difficult for them, I suggest to them to go with Spanish or French and learn Catalan later on.

I said not many people speak English "which is both understandable and not a problem if you are willing to make the effort to learn Spanish or French". Based on my short time here so far and in my time living here a few years ago, people appreciate that I approach them using what Spanish I know, and I've been genially encouraged to move on to Catalan because I'm making the effort. I will eventually, but that choice is mine and doesn't mean I'm doing anything incorrectly. There are many expats here who simply go into situations expecting everyone to speak English for them; this is, as you correctly state, not doing it "right", since you can't expect people to speak English in a non-English-speaking country.

If you had a problem with my post you could have messaged me directly to discuss it like adults, so I could have posted again to make clear my original point, instead of posting replies that imply I don't understand how Andorra works. Please keep this in mind in the future for other posters as it doesn't promote a friendly atmosphere on the message board, and could potentially prevent people from wanting to participate here. Thank you.

Someone said Andorra has no income tax and IVA. This is incorrect. Andorra has relatively low income tax, corporate tax and sales tax, but has them. (The income tax started 2015Jan) What I most like about Andorra is the safety and very very low pollution and the nature.  What I have found I like least about Andorra is there are a lot of costs I did not expect that quite frankly shock me - just an example to change one's business address officially one must use one of the four government notaries, at a government mandated cost of 300 euros! Andorrans are very much willing to tell one that living here one has to do things the Andorran way.  Please note that often this translates in substantial and possibly quite unexpected costs to take care of business.... almost like a "hidden tax" of living here.