Andorra Business Leaders Back Catalan Services Amid Labour Shortages

Business leaders in Andorra voiced firm backing for Catalan-language services during a roundtable on Saturday, while stressing recruitment hurdles in retail, hospitality, and leisure sectors amid persistent labour shortages.

The event, "Catalan in the Business World," was organised by Cultura Activa alongside the Congress of Catalan Culture. It featured representatives from the Andorran Family Business Association (EFA) and Business Confederation (CEA), including EFA board member Maria Creus—granddaughter of former head of government Òscar Ribas Reig—CEA manager Iago Andreu (via video), economists Laura Llusà and Ferran Piqué from Catalonia, UNNIC leisure centre HR manager Marina Llompart, Congress director Esteve Plantada, and Cultura Activa president Maria Cucurull.

Creus differentiated company types, explaining that asset management firms draw from broader Catalan-speaking talent pools. Retail, restaurants, and hotels must hire available candidates and provide training, with staff eager to advance their skills. She emphasised using Catalan in deals and client interactions to sustain the language, citing her grandfather's historic 1993 UN address in Catalan as a symbol of conviction. For EFA members, rooted in an era when Catalan was everyday speech, the language signals identity, builds client trust, and boosts loyalty.

Andreu urged "realism and pragmatism" in law enforcement, given shortages and workers' integration needs. The CEA offers associates tools to improve staff proficiency, with most firms acknowledging the push for the official language.

Experts framed the Official Language Law—nearing its second anniversary—as a competitiveness edge. Llusà called it "completely indispensable," likening it to English in England or French in France. She expects Catalan service as a consumer right and pressed institutions for oversight, including inspections and fines. Amid housing crises and stagnant wages in Andorra and Barcelona, she advised professionals to leverage multilingual skills, including Catalan, for local and cross-border markets. "A language grows richer with more speakers—it's your identity," she said.

Piqué, head of Catalonia's College of Economists Young Commission, praised Andorra's stance amid the Catalan language's "emergency." Businesses hold a social duty to expand speakers, creating cultural and economic gains, particularly against global investment funds eroding local ties. Such laws offer vital guidance, he said, lauding rooted firms like UNNIC.

Llompart outlined UNNIC's efforts: training, guides, and cultural incentives in onboarding, with meetings in Catalan where feasible to ensure client comfort—especially Andorran and Catalan visitors—and aid integration. She called for earlier institutional alerts on residence renewal language rules. "It's not about forcing Catalan, but explaining why public-facing service needs it," she said, presenting UNNIC as a model for locally owned enterprises.

Cucurull highlighted ongoing shortfalls in shops, banks, and firms, aiming to build collective duty. Catalan drives competitiveness, not hinders it; youth master global languages abroad, but Andorra "beats in Catalan," she said, urging action to prevent marginalisation.

Plantada linked cultural and business spheres in Andorra's setting, thanking Cultura Activa. The event ties into the Congress's three-year language sensitisation campaign.