Andorra inaugurated its first Grand Casino on March 6. A space with four restaurants and capacity for 1,500 visitors. Raised, said the Government on the day of the premiere, "to diversify the tourist offer". It is one of the last major investments in a country that keeps reinventing itself. And using the slang of the universe of chance, yesterday at midnight the "no more" was heard in an electoral campaign - Andorrans vote tomorrow Sunday - which will mark the future of the Principality far beyond the next 4 years.
The six political parties playing in these elections have made their last bet in the speeches at the end of the campaign and the few letters seen in the counted polls on voting intention point to the Democrats, in the Government for the last twelve years (in last legislature in coalition with the Liberals), as favourites. Its leader and head of the Government, Xavier Espot, is running for re-election.
But in a country where everyone knows each other – 30,000 Andorrans vote, out of the 80,000 who live in the Principality – these polls tend to be unreliable. Almost half of the citizens consulted do not reveal their ballot choice. In Andorra the door-to-door vote request continues to be practiced.
The date at the polls comes after a campaign without major shocks - although there were novelties due to the irruption of new parties in the electoral arc - and with two wild cards placed face up in a large part of the debates. One refers to a problem that is on the lips of all Andorrans today: the rise in housing prices; and, the second, on Andorra's integration into the European Union. The winner of this election will have to be very skilled if he wants to win this momentous game. The model chosen in this "partnership" with the EU - Monaco and San Marino are also in it - will mark the future of the Principality.
The head of government, Xavier Espot, has repeated to the point of satiety during the campaign the importance for the future generations of Andorra of this "partnership" with the European family to benefit from the advantages of being in this team without being - a member And the leader of the Democrats has defended the legitimacy of his team, due to the experience accumulated in the last four years of negotiation, to finish the game that has already started.
Espot responds to the groups that criticize him for having a trump card with this matter and not being transparent with the current state of the negotiations with the EU, and tells them that he has already explained it although the importance of the matter forces go little by little "If you have to wait six months or a year, you will wait", he repeated. "The goal here is to get the best deal for Andorra", he says. And now, he predicts, "a great window to negotiate" is opening, with Spain's presidency of the European institution.
The most critical voice with the information given by the Government on the state of these negotiations has come from the progressive coalition PS SPD. The candidate, Pere López, does not deny that the matter is of great scope, but he does not agree that Espot and his team are the only ones capable of winning this game. And he is very critical of the little information on the matter provided by the head of government.
Josep Maria Cabanes, Liberal candidate, defends that this agreement will only be good if "we are able to make the EU understand the particularities of Andorra".
The best ally that Espot has found with its thesis on the EU has been Judith Pallarés, from Action, who does not understand so much "suspicion" about the state of the negotiations. For her part, Carine Montaner, from Andorra Endavant, seems to have only one concern: the uncontrolled entry of immigrants into the country. This "association" will, of course, affect the free movement of people and the free provision of services. With fringes still to close in migration policy or the will to maintain the two public operators of telecommunications and electricity. The agreement should also put an end to the high roaming bills generated by visitors to the country.
Housing has been another of the wildcards used in this electoral game. "We started selling cheese and ski passes and ended up selling our houses and land." The phrase is from Concordia, a party with very young people led by Cerni Escalé that is making its debut in these elections as an "alternative" to the traditional distribution of power. It could be the surprise. Andorrans – who know a lot about this in Barcelona or tourist destinations in the Pyrenees – complain that prohibitive rental prices are driving them out of their country. Escalé attributes it to uncontrolled foreign investment, while Democrats, PS SDP and Liberals seem unwilling, if they want to prosper, to cut off this tap.
