Europe's duty-free mountain micro-state — ski peaks, Romanesque chapels and spa hot pools
Andorra la Vella is the capital of Andorra, a tiny co-principality in the Pyrenees ruled jointly since 1278 by the President of France and the Bishop of Urgell — one of Europe's strangest constitutional arrangements and the reason it still exists as an independent state. The city is Europe's highest-altitude capital (1,023 metres), a mountain town of ski-season crowds, duty-free electronics and perfume shops that pack the Meritxell Avenue, and extraordinary Romanesque churches hidden in valleys an hour's walk from the commercial strip. The country is tobacco-tax and VAT-free, making it one of…
Andorra's existence as an independent state stems from a feudal agreement in 1278 between the Count of Foix (later France) and the Bishop of Urgell (Spain), who jointly agreed to share sovereignty rather than fight over the mountain territory. This 'paréage' arrangement has outlasted empires, revolutions, and two world wars — Andorra was neutral in both and never occupied. The principality only joined the United Nations in 1993 and held its first democratic elections that same year, though the co-princes remain the heads of state. The economy runs on tourism (mainly skiing), banking secrecy,…