Andorra la Vella Awards €1.93M Contract to Convert Hotel into 18 Elderly Housing Units

Andorra la Vella council has awarded a €1.93 million contract to renovate the former Hotel Jaume I into 18 housing units for elderly residents, under the Reviu programme.

The project, assigned to Pidasa for 1,934,216.79 euros with a 12-month deadline, will create nine studios and nine one-bedroom flats ranging from 30 to 50 square metres. Each unit will include spacious living areas, kitchens and bathrooms tailored for comfort. Non-residential spaces will convert into communal facilities like a laundry and storage. One flat will be fully adapted for people with reduced mobility. The works focus on a full interior refit, roof repairs for leaks and preservation of the existing structure and facade. The council holds a 30-year lease on the long-vacant property, which will ease pressure on the waiting list at the Calones residence.

Housing councillor Marc Torrent called the approval a significant advance for Reviu, acknowledging it involves painstaking effort but positions the parish to build a stable public housing stock. Responding to opposition concerns over delays in affordable units, he stressed a long-term approach: the council aims to develop housing steadily, avoiding rushed responses to crises by securing buildings and plots in advance.

The tender, launched in June once architectural plans were complete, stayed near its two-million-euro budget.

Opposition Demòcrates councillors supported the contract but criticised Reviu's pace. Miquel Canturri described it as essential for the parish and noted his group's backing for all related initiatives, yet after two years and nine months of the term, no new units had materialised. He called Reviu a "bluff" and "fiasco" for failing to deliver housing.

David Astrié echoed the frustration, warning that works often overrun and the term might end without completed units, leaving zero affordable options. He suggested faster alternatives like the Terra Vella site and highlighted the council's ample funds—over €15 million in treasury—that could have been allocated sooner.