Andorra Pushes Tramvalira Tram as Flagship of New Cross-Border Grouping

Andorra has identified the Tramvalira tram link as the flagship project of the European Grouping of Territorial Cooperation (EGTC) being negotiated with Catalonia and Occitania, with the structure expected to have all the elements needed to take legal form next year.

Noëlia Souque, Andorra's ambassador for cross-border cooperation, said the constitutive documents and legal process are being drafted, and that the grouping's framework is intended to unlock European funding for specific initiatives. She described Tramvalira as one of her government's star projects and a key element for mobility in the Principality and its connection to Catalonia, while cautioning that it will not materialise immediately.

The three parties have agreed on four areas of cooperation: economic development, mobility and the reduction of isolation, cultural promotion, and environmental protection. Souque cited figures showing more than €137 million in consolidated GDP across Occitania, Andorra and Catalonia as of 2023, along with over 271,000 companies and more than 1,005,000 jobs, as evidence of a dynamic cross-border space.

Work is also under way on a project involving natural parks, aimed at agreeing tools to respond more effectively to health or other crises in protected areas, and on sustainable tourism routes. Souque added that the candidacy for UNESCO recognition of the Principality's construction heritage fits within the same cooperation framework.

On the special economic zones, she indicated that progress is uneven. The Organyà zone in the Alt Urgell is already being advanced, while the location of the zone planned around Pamiers in France has yet to be defined. She said Andorra is pursuing both with full commitment.

The Tramvalira project was discussed at a roundtable on cross-border cooperation as a tool for connectivity and mobility, part of a series of events on transnational collaboration that will take on a more business-oriented character in the coming days. Participants included Secretary of State for Energy Transition, Transport and Mobility David Forné; the mayor of L'Hospitalet-près-l'Andorre, Arnaud Diaz; the Generalitat's delegate in Catalonia, Anna Vives; the Andorran government's adviser on aeronautics and aviation, Guillem Santacreu; and Óscar Madrid Morales, director of Andorra–La Seu airport.

Madrid noted growth in activity at the airport but said the absence of a border control point there represents a bottleneck. The airport does not feature among the projects expected to receive financial support once the EGTC is formally constituted, unlike the tram.

The political commitment to the grouping was formalised in February through an exchange of letters between Andorra's head of government, Xavier Espot, Catalan president Salvador Illa and Carole Delga, president of the Occitanie region. The creation of the EGTC will be the central topic at the first session of the second Cross-Border Cooperation Conference on 21 October, where the completed legal study will be presented and potential European projects and programmes identified. A first Cross-Border Business Forum, organised by the CEA employers' association and Creand, will follow on 22 and 23 October.

Officials describe the challenge as turning institutional cooperation into concrete projects, positioning Andorra as an economic hub for the surrounding region.