Andorra Hosts 10th WhatsApp Relats Literary Contest with Nationwide School Participation

Students from Andorra's fourth-year secondary classes and equivalent levels took part in the tenth edition of the WhatsApp Relats literary contest on Tuesday morning. For the first time, the event featured exclusive nationwide participation from eight schools across various educational systems: the Andorran institutes in Santa Coloma, Encamp and Ordino; the Spanish María Moliner school; the congregational centres Mare Janer, Sant Ermengol and Sagrada Família; and the Agora International School.

Held ahead of Sant Jordi, the contest encourages young people to practise creative writing with familiar digital tools such as mobile phones and the WhatsApp app. Coordinators at each school received the writing prompt via WhatsApp early in the day and shared it with participants, who had one hour to produce a story of up to 100 words. Submissions arrived through the same platform, where they were anonymised and assigned codes before jury review.

The judging process includes several rounds to select three winners and seven finalists, all from Andorran schools. First prize is a touchscreen tablet, second a smartwatch, and third a student backpack. The other finalists will each receive a set of wireless earbuds. The winning school's centre gains a book package from the Associació Llibre del Pirineu. Prizes will be presented at a public event during a reading promotion festival.

The Ministry of Institutional Relations, Education and Universities leads the initiative, supported by Andorra Telecom for technical expertise, promotion and prizes, and the Associació Llibre del Pirineu for organisation and book donations.