Andorra tribunal hears Spain's extradition request for convicted sex offender

The Tribunal de Corts has held an initial hearing on Spain's request to extradite a 44-year-old Spanish resident for a prison sentence related to sexual assaults on his adoptive daughters in 2015.

Prosecutors from the Audiència Provincial de Sevilla seek his handover to serve the term, which Spanish reports describe as five years for continued sexual aggression against two stepdaughters. The man accepted the penalty by conformity while already living in Andorra, though he now claims he was unaware of its full implications due to mental health issues. Andorran prosecutors maintain the request satisfies all formal extradition requirements, emphasizing he lacked Andorran nationality at the time of the offenses. He has lived in the Principat since 2019, where he has rebuilt his life with a new partner and a young child.

His lawyer opposed extradition, highlighting diagnoses of autism spectrum disorder, depression, and prior suicide attempts that prompted precautionary measures and psychiatric oversight in La Comella prison, where he has been held for two months pending the process. The defence argued for any sentence to be served locally, citing strong family roots and recent severe emotional strain from the death of his 18-year-old biological son on 1 December. The boy, who lived in Andorra, had travelled to Utrera with his biological mother and died there; Spanish Guardia Civil investigations found no signs of criminality.

During the hearing, the man called Andorra his country and warned that extradition would inflict irreversible harm on his mental health and personal circumstances. He maintains his innocence in the Spanish case.

The tribunal has closed proceedings for sentencing.