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Andorra imposes language requirement on foreign residents

The parliament of the tiny Pyrenean principality of Andorra has passed a law setting a minimum Catalan language requirement for foreign residents.

Published: 26 April 2024 12:38 CEST

Andorra imposes language requirement on foreign residents

Andorra La Vella in Andorra (Photo by PASCAL PAVANI / AFP)

The law aims to bolster the standing of Catalan, the official language in the 468 square kilometre statelet nestled in the mountains between France and Spain, where its use has dropped off in recent years.

Andorrans represent about half of the 80,000 population but there are 25,000 Spanish and many Latin American migrant workers with the Spanish language becoming the everyday language for many.

8 things you never knew about Andorra

About 3,000 people who have to renew their residency permits in 2024 will face the tests, and those who fail will have to take a 30-hour course in Catalan at a government centre.

The law also allows for fines to be imposed in some cases where Catalan is not spoken at a business or institution.

“The spirit (of the law) is to protect our language which is a sign of identity and sovereignty,” said Andorra’s Culture Minister Monica Bonell.

The law was passed by 25 votes to three with the small Andorra Endavant party voting against.

“We do not agree with these extremist fines if you do not speak Catalan. I think we are sliding towards a totalitarian state,” said Carine Montaner, head of Andorra Endavant.

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4.2 million square kilometres

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It is smaller than Russia’s 17 million square kilometres (6.6 million square miles) and the United States’ 9.8 million km2, but bigger than India’s 3.3 million km2.

The biggest country in the bloc is France at 633,866 km2 and the smallest is Malta, a Mediterranean island of 313 km2.

448.4 million people

On January 1, 2023, the bloc was home to 448.4 million people.

The most populous country, Germany, has 84.3 million, while the least populous, Malta, has 542,000 people.

The EU is more populous than the United States with its 333 million but three times less populous than China and India, with 1.4 billion each.

24 languages and counting

The bloc has 24 official languages.

That makes hard work for the parliament’s army of 660 translators and interpreters, who have 552 language combinations to deal with.

Around 60 other regional and minority languages, like Breton, Sami and Welsh, are spoken across the bloc but EU laws only have to be written in official languages.

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Only 20 of the EU’s 27 members use the euro single currency, which has been in use since 2002.

Denmark was allowed keep its krona but Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Sweden are all expected to join the euro when their economies are ready.

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And while Germany produced the cheapest ice cream at 1.5 per litre, in Austria a scoop cost on average seven euros per litre.

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The EU’s body of law, which all member states are compelled to apply, stretches to 100,000 pages and covers around 17,000 pieces of legislation.

It includes EU treaties, legislation and court rulings on everything from greenhouse gases to parental leave and treaties with other countries like Canada and China.

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