Ex-Andorran Ministers Launch Memoir on Pandemic Leadership Amid Irony-Laden Event

Former Andorran health minister Joan Martínez Benazet and ex-finance minister Eric Jover launched their memoir *Divendres 13: la pandèmia a Andorra* on Tuesday evening at the Comú d'Escaldes-Engordany auditorium. The event drew over 300 attendees, exceeding capacity with no masks, distancing or restrictions observed, prompting jokes about the irony given their past pandemic rules.

Coordinated by former government communications staffer Judit Pedrós, the presentation coincided with the approaching sixth anniversary of the nationwide lockdown decreed on 13 March 2020, and marked 43 months since the health emergency lifted on 18 October 2023. Andorra logged 47,890 cases and 165 deaths, achieving a 0.3% case fatality rate and 213.5 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants—among the lowest in Western Europe.

The book offers a personal account of crisis leadership, blending emotional reflections with key episodes rather than a chronological record. The authors credited citizens' compliance under the "Virtus Unita Fortior" ethos for preventing healthcare overload, while honouring frontline staff, police, supermarket workers and others. Benazet described the frenetic decision-making pace, including twice-daily briefings during the initial lockdown, which induced emotional numbness amid elderly isolation, daily death announcements and youth confinement. Jover highlighted constant anxiety over limited-data choices and their lasting impacts.

Both endured long Covid: Jover with headaches, fatigue and cognitive fog impairing simple math; Benazet with neurological weakness leading to his resignation. Pre-crisis casual acquaintances, they forged a tight bond through dawn strategy sessions and gallows humour, calling their alliance a "platonic" or "pandemic" marriage. Conceived two years prior but delayed by schedules, the project advanced under Pedrós's guidance. Jover reconstructed timelines from press conferences and bulletins; Benazet structured content around infection waves and vaccinations.

As a small nation, Andorra struggled for external funding, supplies, vaccines and tourism revival. Highlights included the GAVI equitable vaccine initiative's collapse as firms favoured deals with the US, EU and Israel; Spain's then-health minister Salvador Illa securing Andorra's first 900 Pfizer doses on 19 January 2021 for non-EU microstates; support for 2,000 stranded Argentine workers despite Buenos Aires' neglect; ICU care at Meritxell hospital saving an Alt Urgell woman in cardiorespiratory arrest amid bed shortages in Lleida; and US entry bans for Benazet and then-foreign minister Maria Ubach after hosting Cuba's 19-doctor, 20-nurse Henry Reeve brigade under Trump.

They admitted early errors like stockpiling azithromycin and hydroxychloroquine on advice from Oriol Mitjà and Didier Raoult, later deemed ineffective and swiftly abandoned. Continuing AstraZeneca despite thrombosis risks drew praise from WHO adviser Federico Martinón-Torres, who noted prevented deaths and hospitalisations far outweighed rare side effects during the Delta wave. Jover defended "soft credits" for businesses despite rollout issues, driven by urgency to avert collapses.

Cross-party cabinet unity surprised Benazet, who expected pushback on full lockdown but received full support. The memoir criticises Consell General anti-vaccine rhetoric—implicitly from Carine Montaner—for eroding trust, despite 85% vaccination averting system failure. Technical details like PCR, TMA, antigen tests and mechanical ventilation mix with societal resilience notes.

At the lively launch, humour abounded: apologies to sign-language interpreter David Jiménez for rapid speech; nods to Benazet's "ugly" Ted Lapidus tie worn repeatedly, Jover's self-haircut mishaps, and Benazet's cat Barri stealing the show in home briefings. Attendees included politicians, health leaders like Col·legi de Metges president Albert Dorca and SAAS director Meritxell Cosa, ex-ambassador Àngel Ros, and Catalan health councillor Josep Maria Argimon, who wrote the epilogue. A video from Illa underscored enduring ties. Both authors affirmed they would not change major decisions in hindsight, viewing the book as a circle-closing tribute to Andorra's response, praised in a Forbes article as a model. The event ended with standing ovations, positioning the memoir as a Sant Jordi contender.