A Regrettable Episode, a Loss Forever, and a Lesson not to be Forgotten
The contemporary history of urbanisation and construction in Andorra has been extremely aggressive with respect to the impact on architectural and environmental heritage. Our task
today is to pass on a hard but useful lesson to help safeguard our architectural heritage and the culture of our country.
We are unfortunately speaking of a heritage that has almost entirely disappeared under the impact of a series of construction and demolition projects that have lacked sensibility
and an intelligent perspective, and from which Andorra has suffered for the past 40 years.
The heritage in question consists of urban fabric, houses, ancillary buildings and gardens in the quarter of El Pui in the Capital, Andorre-la-Vielle (Old Andorra).
El Pui, which means ‘little hillock’, is built on a small rocky promontory that dominates the best part of the cultivable plain extending at its foot. It is referred to for the first time in
a document dated to 1176. The core is made up of around 40 buildings, and for the most part it had conserved its houses and urban fabric, and its mediaeval character, for most of the
1960s and 1970s. The safeguarding of this heritage could have still been possible in the 1980s.
As well as architectural and historical qualities and values, El Pui possesses a range of additional values that have accumulated over the years: for example, at the eastern edge
of the Quarter, a magnificent private residence was constructed in 1580; at the end of 1702 it became the seat of the Consul General and today it accommodates the Parliament of Andorra.
In 1923, Isabelle Sandy wrote her novel ‘Andorra and the men of Aram’, which presented the wealth of regional and spiritual thoughts and ideas. The action of the novel is located in one
of the most important houses of El Pui, Casa Solona, which unfortunately was only recently demolished! El Pui was also one the entry points to the capital when travelling from Spain.
Today the Quarter is hardly recognisable. Brutal changes to the edifices have resulted in much disfigurement and the various houses that remain are stifled by the concrete
giants that block the horizon. The demolition of the Quarter has destroyed many of the values and qualities, and a good number of possibilities have been lost.
Three Chapters to the Lesson
Painful as they are, these mistakes are of no value if we use them only as grounds to feel eternally sorry. Rather, and above all, they invite us to be rigorous in the analysis and
knowledge of events and processes and they offer us the possibility of renewing our forces, our dynamism and our efficiency in order to ensure that these episodes do not recur.
Chapter 1: Between the remedial and the irreparable, the right time to react
The first large buildings constructed in the last decade at El Pui marked the beginning of the construction of a new type of building. On one hand, they represent a type of architectural
‘contamination’ of the place, which severely degrades its quality; on the other hand, there is an argument ‘justifying’ the pursuit of this aggressive approach. But who are the
beneficiaries? The private owners only? What will be penalised? - Our heritage, all of society. Who will be responsible? - All the institutions that have taken advantage of the economic
climate, supported by a civil society engrossed in seeking gains that are easy and immediate, insensible to the dilemmas and hence incapable of measuring the gravity of the threat.
Between the remediable and the irreparable, the time is running out. The lack of action and of social demand, through passivity, has given credentials to projects regularly
authorised by self-interested institutions. Any strategy of rectification lacks both organisation and discussion.
Chapter 2: El Pui - the loss of enormous capital
Since the 1960s, Andorra has staked much on tourism as a central pillar of its economy. Sadly, however, there has been considerable success in wasting the enormous historic,
architectural and tourist capital of El Pui. It is paradoxical, and difficult to comprehend that this tourist trump, at the centre of the Andorran Capital, historic heritage and the country’s
culture, has been ‘sold at the lowest price’ for more or less misshapen blocks of concrete, satisfying only the economic interests of a dozen or so proprietors. To consider the result to be
of minor heritage interest, to-the-side and non-monumental, is certainly taking the easy way out. The loss of perspective and of horizon, the absence of forethought, the flawed planning
and vigilance, all guarantee that the rights of heritage are secondary. They also ensure that the potential benefits of a valuable heritage asset have been lost. This loss is irremediable.
Chapter 3: the trap of political gestures
In 1989 the Minister in charge of the management of the region released the results of a project undertaken by the School of Architecture of Vallés (Barcelona) on El Pui, titled:
‘Amelioration of Urban Landscape. Ancient Quarter’. In the presentation of this expansive document, the Minister of the time declared: ‘That the collection of images can be used to
help us with the recuperation and rehabilitation of our built heritage, symbolising a traditional way of life.’ Unfortunately, these words have been revealed to be hollow, lacking in
strategy, resources and compromise - a velvet-gloved premonition of a severe and loud impact. The months that followed this declaration have witnessed the demolition of several of the
houses inventoried in this study.
Declarations, plans or legislative tools are without effect in the absence of genuine compromise, or of the human resources and material necessary to make willpower and
agreement concrete and effective - and to feed sensible social action. All this has led to mistakes, the consequences of which are with us today.
The Future versus ‘the End’
We said at the beginning: this is a regrettable period, but it is also a solid reason for us to reinvest our efforts. As an apprenticeship, certainly hard, it can help us avoid a repeat of these
errors in the future. The capacity to react on the part of society, compared with the capacity to transform the present philosophy and the approach to development, is a very important
factor in the effectiveness of saving our heritage. It is necessary, therefore, to recognise, valorise and give careful and constant attention to our heritage, even if it is only thought to be
insignificant. Understanding, development and research will help to reinforce this attitude. It is this for which we work. The experience, as heavy as it has been for us, and the lesson
that we have learned, can certainly be useful to others.
ICOMOS Andorra
