Three Large Rocks Tumble from Hillside in Andorra's Santa Coloma

Firefighters and police responded to a rockfall in the Camp Bastida area of Andorra la Vella early Thursday morning, after several large stones detached from a hillside near Avinguda de Santa Coloma and Avinguda d'Enclar.

The incident occurred shortly before 8am, with witnesses reporting a loud noise as the rocks tumbled down the slope behind Carrer Gil Torres. Some residents were startled awake by the sound near Carrer Camp Bastida. The stones, including some of significant size, came to rest in unoccupied fields and small gardens, damaging only vegetation. No people were injured, and no buildings or structures were affected.

Andorra la Vella police arrived first after alerts from nearby residents, securing the private path leading to the site. Firefighters, alerted at 7:30am, dispatched a truck with three personnel and a command vehicle to conduct an initial ground inspection. Officials from the traffic department, including councillor Xavier Surana, urban planning technician Victòria Cobo, and traffic service head Toni Pujol, visited the scene from the nearby river park, where they could clearly view the detachment points on the mountainside.

Authorities have since closed a section of the Rec del Solà path to users for safety reasons, from the new cemetery to Carrer Mestre Xavier Plana. The measure is precautionary while checks continue to rule out further falls or the need for clearing work. Government technicians are scheduled to deploy a drone in the coming hours to assess the hillside's condition and determine any preventive measures.

Such natural events are common in the area, which features existing protections to prevent rocks from reaching inhabited zones. Industrial warehouses lie near the detachment point. Officials have provided no further details on the cause.