Ensenyat admits housing will remain an urgent problem in Andorra in 2027
The parliamentary speaker defends the work carried out during the legislative term
Andorra’s parliamentary speaker, Carles Ensenyat, has acknowledged that the shortage of affordable housing will remain an urgent problem when the legislative term ends in 2027.
In his speech marking Meritxell Day, he nevertheless argued that the persistence of the problem does not diminish the value of the measures introduced by the General Council and the government in recent years.
“Housing was an urgent and important issue in 2023, and it will remain urgent, important and complex in 2027, at the end of the political year we begin today”, Ensenyat said during what he described as the final Meritxell Day of the ninth constitutional legislature.
The speaker identified access to housing as one of the four major challenges that have defined the term, alongside sustainable growth, decriminalising abortion while preserving Andorra’s institutional structure, and the association agreement with the European Union.
Defending the measures introduced
Despite acknowledging that the problem will remain unresolved, Ensenyat defended the legislative and government action taken on housing. “Never before has Andorra seen such a productive period of legislative initiatives from all parliamentary groups and government action in this area,” he said.
“The persistence of the problem does not diminish the value of the work done,” he stressed. According to the speaker, any future analysis of the country’s housing policies will need to “look closely at these four years”.
He argued that the country’s major challenges cannot be resolved quickly or fully addressed within a single term. He described the current legislature as a period of construction and of laying the foundations for Andorra’s future.
Growth that institutions struggle to keep pace with
His comments on housing were accompanied by an acknowledgement of the difficulties institutions face in responding to the pace of change in the country. Ensenyat said that Andorra’s economy and society continue to experience rapid expansion, as they did in 2023.
“Reality is moving so fast that institutional action can barely catch up and is often forced to follow behind,” he said, using a metaphor. Nevertheless, he argued that the work currently being carried out by the General Council, the government and parish councils will help achieve more orderly and sustainable development.
Ahead of the legislature’s final parliamentary session, the speaker called for initiatives that are ready to be completed to be brought to fruition, and for the foundations of lasting results to be consolidated.