Faced with an influx of tourists to Andorra, the Andorran government is considering a sticker for foreign vehicles driving on its territory, a move that worries tourists and cross-border workers as well as traders.
Since Andorra's head of government, Xavier Espot, explained to Catalunya Ràdio that he is considering introducing a tax on foreign vehicles crossing the country, concern has grown in Ariège and France. The government plans a sticker for tourists visiting the 400km2 country, which saw nearly 10 million tourists pass through its borders last year. Xavier Espot explains this reflection by having a less important but more qualitative tourism; it is also part of a wider bill on sustainable growth and the right to housing.
But already, the announcement of the measure has caused problems on both sides of the border. Catherine, a resident of Tarascon-sur-Ariège, comes to do her shopping once a month at Pas de la Casa, but doesn't seem too alarmed: “We should see how much it will cost. If they could do something. for us, that we pay less than the really casual visitors, that might be good.'' And we are the ones who support them coming to shop here”. After the first rumors about this sticker, Xavier Espot actually clarified that it would not concern cross-border workers or long-term tourists who spend when is in the territory.
“It's a bit like shooting yourself in the foot.”
However, the contradiction between the political discourse and the economic reality on the ground is what worries the Spanish Sonia: “I don't know how much the tax will be, but it's like shooting yourself in the eye. leg, me I think that tourists are important for Andorra, it can only create a negative echo and people will no longer want to come, and therefore it will cause a loss of income for merchants”, sighs the young woman.
The opinion is shared by two Frenchmen whose number plate indicates Loire-Atlantique. “We're far from Andorra now, but when we're in the area we always come here to buy a few things, it's always a deal,” explains the fifty-year-old, “But if they charge us. we're just going through, we'll think twice, honestly.” Her husband agrees, evoking the case of the Occitans in winter: “I imagine there are people who come from Toulouse or elsewhere to come ski for a day. Will he drive them away? I don't know, but in their place I would be a little horrified for the moment, it doesn't really make good press for the country, even if in the end the amount of the tax is not high”, he laughs.
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Meanwhile, the process is still in the calculation, as indicated by Xavier Espot before the first shout. The government, currently in discussions with “economic and social agencies”, says it has given itself “some time, at least until the end of the year, to be able to reflect on the relevance of this measure”.
“I don't understand why they want to do this”
Traders in Pas de la Casa also oscillate between bewilderment and concern in front of this sticker that would penalize some of their customers. In her small shop, Maria* sells alcohol and cigarettes and admits she is powerless: “I don't understand why they want to do this, it's not good for us”, she says, I have many French people who come to buy here, if they don't come anymore because he has to pay, it will be very difficult for me”.
A neighboring restaurateur is more measured. For him, the media coverage of the affair will do a disservice to the Andorran government: “I don't know if they will go through to the end, he thinks. There are already many protests, that this either in France or in Spain. or on our side, and they would not wonder if that would be enough for them to give it up.”
Down the street, in his boot and ski equipment shop, Christian* sighs, “I don't understand all the fuss around this.” For the forty-year-old, if the sticker is being proposed by the government, it's because the government has a good reason for doing it: “I don't think they put that out by accident, they had to do the math to do that. be justified.”
More broadly, the measure is not going down too well with Andorran traders at the moment. In comments on TV3 reported by Catalunya Ràdio, Rosa Pascuet, president of the Merchants Association of Riberaygua and Travesseres, advised against such measures: “Apart from the fact that there will be an outcry, this will only give us bad press. We must remove the word 'remuneration' from the calendar,” she told Catalan television.