Andorra withholds total cost of Cycling Masters after contractor marks figures confidential

The Andorran government has refused to disclose the total cost of the Andorra Cycling Masters, saying the awardee designated key financial details as confidential. The production-and-dissemination contract with Iniciativas de Medios SA was published once execution began, the ministry said, but the company marked the contract’s cost information as confidential under the rules of public procurement.

In a written reply signed by Minister of Tourism and Commerce Jordi Torres Falcó, the government reiterated that “the cost of the contract was not published, as it has been designated as confidential information by the awardee,” and that detailed contracting costs are therefore reserved and cannot be provided in that response. The reply also argued disclosure could affect trade secrets or harm free competition, citing the legal basis for confidentiality (article 31.4 of the Public Procurement Law).

Although the overall figure was withheld, the response included limited line items: communication services of €58,173.04 and logistical expenses of €4,118.14, a combined €62,291.18. Reporting indicates about €45,000 of the communication spend went to promotion in Spain and France, and that the logistics amount covered items including private security.

The government said it has made the economic documentation available to members of parliament. Each councillor “has direct access to the requested documentation to study it and take any notes they consider appropriate,” the reply notes. However, officials warned that where the adjudicatary has marked specific elements as confidential those parts cannot be provided even to councillors who consult the files in person at Andorra Turisme’s offices.

Concòrdia, the civic group that filed the information request through its parliamentary leader Cerni Escalé, said it will continue to press for clarity and intends to inspect the documentation at Andorra Turisme to verify the records made available to parliamentarians. Escalé has signalled plans to visit the public agency’s offices to review the files in person.

Independent media and unnamed sources consulted by local outlets have suggested the total cost of bringing top cyclists to the event could have been around €1.2 million. The government has neither confirmed nor denied that estimate.

The reply also states the administration holds no separate report or external advisory on the Cycling Masters. Official documentation supplied to the government records 97 personnel involved in the event’s device, including 38 private security staff, 19 traffic-control agents from Andorra la Vella, 15 from Escaldes-Engordany, 14 police officers, seven agents from Sant Julià de Lòria traffic service and four staff from Ambulàncies del Pirineu.

For now, the precise total spent on organising the October event — which brought several top professional cyclists to Andorra and recently premiered a documentary about the race — remains undisclosed to the public, with access to the full financial breakdown limited by the confidentiality designation made by the contractor.