Andorra la Vella Opposition Abstains on Revised Urban Plan Limiting Growth

The opposition Comú d’Andorra la Vella, representing Demòcrates, abstained from approving the public exhibition of Andorra la Vella’s revised Parish Urban Planning Scheme (POUP), despite expressing strong support for limiting urban growth.

Councillor David Astrié described the revision as one of the parish’s most significant structural decisions, with long-term impacts beyond the current term. His group highlighted positive elements, including preserved green spaces, expanded public housing stock, and full protection of Parc Central—a measure they had previously championed through talks with landowners. However, they abstained for four reasons: insufficient time to review over 1,000 pages of documentation after just three days, compared to nearly three years for the majority; uncertainty over the inflationary effects of reduced building capacity, which could raise prices by discouraging construction despite the 10% extra allowance for affordable units; asymmetric treatment across zones, with varying reductions and concessions; and lack of consultation with landowners, who reported no prior awareness and could trigger a flood of objections.

Astrié stressed the abstention did not challenge the need for revision but raised concerns about the proposed model’s consequences.

Housing councillor Marc Torrent countered that evidence showed more construction in the past five to ten years than ever before, alongside soaring prices, due to speculative investment rather than supply shortages for workers. He defended slashing the parish’s population ceiling from 77,000 to 44,000 as a consensus move to protect land, resources, and public services, without halting ongoing builds.

Major conseller Sergi González offered joint work with the opposition to resolve doubts, while consellers noted landowners could have joined earlier participatory processes.

The edict for 60 business days of public exhibition is set for publication in the BOPA tomorrow, with the document available online and in person at the comú’s new offices from Monday.