Andorra la VellaThe Minister of Justice and Interior, Ester Molnéhas justified before the General Council the approval of 120 new quotas for self-employed workersresponding to an urgent question from the Concordia councillor, Paul Bartholomew.
The councilor of concord he charged against the management of the executive in matters of immigration and housing, accusing them of having turned Andorra into a “garden for foreign investors” and of having made the country “unrecognizable by Andorrans”.
Bartolomé accuses DA of having caused an unrecognizable Andorra
The counselor was forceful in his criticismsstating that “You will find few countries with as much immigration as here. While you made Andorra a garden for foreign investors, you forgot the Andorrans. The housing crisis this Government has caused it, and anyone who believes that they will fix it is living one false illusion“. Bartholomew he pointed out that the executive has prioritized the interests of investors over the needs of local citizens.
Ask Bartolomé quotas
Molné defends the decision to avoid legal uncertainty
The head of Justice and Interior responded to the accusations defending that the decision to approve the new quotas is a measure to avoid legal problems: “These people have already completed procedures such as creation of a societythe reservation of the company name, the granting of the deed, the disbursement of the capital and the registration. It would be neither fair nor ethical if, after all these steps, they were not granted residence”, he stated.
The minister warned that denying these quotas would generate legal uncertainty for those affected. The Minister of Andorra Andavant, Marcos Monteagudointervened in defense of the Government, accusing Bartolomé of not understanding the economic reality of the country “is confused with what foreign investment in real estate and business creation is“, he remarked.
Reduction of housing fees
Molné also argued that the Government has made efforts to limit population pressure in response to the housing crisis: “Since 2013, two quotas of 250 people each have been approved. With the housing crisis, we realized that we needed to reduce them. For this reason, we have decreased them by one 50%. With the omnibus lawwe will finally be able to regulate these issues more efficiently”, assured the minister.