Andorra: the risk of becoming a country only for the rich
The Principality lives an increasingly evident paradox.
Andorra lives an increasingly evident paradox. We are a country that generates jobs, attracts investment, builds buildings and receives millions of visitors each year, but at the same time silently expels a part of its population because they can no longer afford to live there. The housing problem has ceased to be a sectoral concern and has become a structural issue that affects social cohesion, economic competitiveness and even the identity of the country.
The figures are stark. With a median salary of around 2,165 euros per month and a minimum wage close to 1,500 euros, finding decent housing is, for many people, an almost impossible mission. The average house purchase price often ranges between 4,500 and 7,500 euros per square meter, while rents typically fluctuate between 1,500 and 3,500 euros per month. This imbalance is simply unsustainable.
The consequence is clear: there are more and more working poor. People who have jobs, who contribute to the economy, who keep the country alive, but who cannot access housing without dedicating a disproportionate part of their income to it. And this not only affects young people. It also strikes families, essential workers and pensioners with modest benefits who see how the cost of living in Andorra condemns them to unexpected precariousness.
The consequence is clear: there are more and more working poor.
The problem is even more serious because the Andorran economy continues to depend largely on tourism and associated commerce. It is a model that has worked for decades and has brought prosperity, but it also has obvious limitations. Tourism generates many jobs, yes, but a significant part are low or moderate wage jobs. And here the great contradiction appears: the country needs these workers, but the workers themselves cannot afford the cost of living in the country.
The situation becomes especially worrying when we observe that even today large commercial surfaces and new infrastructures oriented towards mass consumption and tourism continue to be built. This will inevitably imply more need for low-wage labor. The question is inevitable: where will these workers live? At what price? With what quality of life?
It is not just an economic issue. It is also a question of the country's model. A society cannot sustain itself if its teachers, healthcare workers, waiters, shop assistants, police officers or retirees cannot afford housing. When this happens, the risk is to become a territory where only people with very high incomes or significant assets can reside, while the rest are condemned to leave or to live in increasingly precarious conditions.
This phenomenon is already seen elsewhere in the world. Tourist and financial cities that have ended up expelling their local population because housing has become more of a speculative asset than a basic right. The result is a fragmented society, with strong inequality and a progressive loss of the human fabric that gives real life to the country.
Andorra still has time to avoid this, but it must act with courage and with a vision for the future. The first necessity is to assume that the market, by itself, will not solve the problem. When international demand, real estate investment and speculative profitability push prices up, local salaries cannot compete. Without regulation and determined public policies, access to housing will continue to deteriorate.
It is necessary to significantly increase the stock of affordable housing. This implies public promotion, fiscal incentives for moderate-rental housing, and mechanisms that prevent empty homes or apartments intended solely for speculative investment from remaining outside the residential market. It is also necessary to reflect on urban growth. Building more does not always mean solving the problem. If what is built are luxury homes intended for investors or second homes, the effect on residents is practically nil.
But beyond housing, Andorra needs a deep reflection on its economic model. The country cannot base its future exclusively on low value-added activities and high dependence on tourism. This strategy has a ceiling and generates evident social tensions when the cost of living skyrockets.
Andorra should decisively bet on high value-added economic activities: technology, research, innovation, health, higher education, advanced digital services, sustainability, the knowledge economy and companies capable of generating skilled employment and high salaries. This type of activity makes it possible to attract professionals with sufficient purchasing power to live in the country without extreme tensions and, at the same time, generates more fiscal resources and more economic stability.
The country has very favorable elements to make this step. It has security, quality of life, natural environment, digital connectivity and a human dimension attractive to many international professionals. But to consolidate this model a clear strategic commitment is needed. It is not enough to attract passive residents or real estate investors. It is necessary to create ecosystems of talent and knowledge.
It is also essential to strengthen training. A high value-added economy requires skilled personnel. This implies investing in education, university, research and technological training. Young Andorrans must be able to aspire to well-paid jobs without having to leave the country. And companies must find prepared professionals to face the challenges of the future.
Some will argue that limiting certain real estate dynamics or regulating the market can slow investments. But one must ask: what type of investment really interests the country? The one that multiplies the price of apartments and expels residents, or the one that creates sustainable value, skilled employment and social cohesion?
A country is not just a sum of buildings, shops and macroeconomic figures. A country is its people. And when a significant part of the population lives with the constant anxiety of not being able to pay the rent or find housing, something fundamental is breaking.
Low pensions are another worrying indicator. Many elderly people, who have worked all their lives in the country, today face enormous difficulties in facing the current cost of living. It is a problem of collective dignity. A mature society cannot leave its retirees behind while watching million-dollar real estate operations grow.
A generational fracture must also be avoided. Young people increasingly perceive that building a life project in Andorra is extremely difficult. Buying an apartment is almost a utopia for many couples. The risk is to create a resigned generation or one condemned to emigrate.
This situation has direct economic effects. Companies already have difficulty finding workers because many candidates reject job offers given the impossibility of finding affordable housing. That is, the housing problem is beginning to affect the very competitiveness of the country.
Perhaps the time has come to assume that quantitative growth is not always synonymous with progress. More buildings, more visitors and more consumption do not automatically guarantee a better quality of life. True development is that which allows the majority of the population to prosper, not just a privileged minority.
Andorra has an important decision ahead. It can continue to move towards a model based mainly on real estate speculation and intensive tourism, assuming the risk of progressively expelling its middle class. Or it can bet on a more balanced, sustainable model based on knowledge, innovation and added value.
There is still time. But time is running. And every year that passes without addressing the problem makes it harder to reverse. The question is not only what country we want to have. The question is, above all, for whom do we want this country to be.
