La Manduca Gourmet Shop Closes After 61 Years in Andorra

Teresa Alàs has closed La Manduca, the upscale gourmet food shop in Andorra la Vella that her parents opened in 1965 and which she ran for 61 years.

The 76-year-old shopkeeper handed over the keys on Thursday, September 12, ending operations at the store on Carrer Mossèn Cinto Verdaguer, near Plaça Guillemó. Alàs cited a combination of factors, including her age and changes in the lease after the building's new owners took over.

"The previous owners sold the building to new ones, and they proposed different conditions I couldn't accept," she explained. The key issue was a rent increase, though Alàs described it as a standard adjustment rather than an extreme hike. "It's normal for rents to go up when new owners arrive, just like with apartments," she said. The new lease also required a lengthy commitment, which she found unfeasible.

Additionally, the owners planned to renovate the building's plumbing, an undertaking Alàs deemed incompatible with running a food shop. "I couldn't keep the business open with a trench running through the middle," she noted. These elements, alongside her advancing years, made continuation impossible.

La Manduca specialized in high-end products such as foie gras, caviar, premium fruits, and fine alcohols—items appealing to discerning customers rather than typical neighbourhood shoppers. The business maintained consistent profitability over the decades, weathering ups and downs like any enterprise.

Alàs expressed regret at the closure but emphasised it was her own decision. "I took a last look around the shop this morning; it's been part of my life. But everything has a beginning and an end," she said. The space has been cleared out and left empty, with its future use unknown.

Grateful for her loyal patrons—"not just customers, but friends"—Alàs now faces retirement. She plans to stay active, perhaps through further education, determined to "be up to date and not sit on the sofa." At home, she joked, tidying up will keep her busy for now.