Andorra la Vella The municipality of Escaldes-Engordany has started work to prepare an exhibition on the pioneers of commerce between the years 1930 and 1978, an initiative that aims to take a tour of one of the economic pillars that has been key, together with the hotel industry, to position the parish, and the country in general, as an attractive tourist destination for visitors.
In fact, the project is a continuation of the exhibition ‘Les Escaldes: pioneers of the hotel industry 1900-1960’ which was a historical walk through the most emblematic hotels of the Escaldes of the time.
The initiative comes from the department of Culture of the common which has entrusted the project to the historian, teacher and writer, Joan Peruga, and to the designer of spaces – museography, SÃlvia Castro. Based on the configuration of the team, the first work will focus on the documentation, the writing and the design of the exhibition with the aim that it fits the history of the commerce of Escaldes-Engordany that contributed to transform the country, leaving a mark on its cultural and economic identity.
Peruga, who has already started with the work, emphasizes that “we have mountains that are covered with snow in winter, forests inhabited by wildlife, lakes with transparent waters where the clouds are mirrored, Romanesque chapels made of venerable stones, valleys that maintain the harmony of nature with human activities and that have deserved the recognition of UNESCO… but many visitors remember Escaldes for the streets full of shops where, for generations, they make their dreams come true. It is the other heritage that we must preserve and enhance.”
The exhibition will also have street actions. In this sense, different artists from the country will be asked to produce a series of works in which the typical products of the time and, at the same time, the main appeal of tourists, are the central theme. Thus, Duralex items, ball cheese, tobacco, perfumes, radio cassettes or car wheels, among others, will be the protagonists of all these works that will be exhibited in the streets and shop windows of Escaldes-Engordany . The result will be seen towards the end of 2026.