The controversy over the definition of the bid for the 2030 Winter Games in the Pyrenees has gone beyond the Spanish border and was present this morning at the bilateral meeting held in Andorra between the Catalan president, Pere Aragonès, and the head of the Andorran government, Xavier Espot. Although an Andorran presence was initially ruled out in this project, Espot emphasized the the small mountain state's capacity as the largest and best-equipped ski area in Southern Europe, as well as its hotel infrastructure, stressing the contribution it could make to ensure the success of the candidacy, and Aragonès showed himself open to a collaboration.
The Catalan president, who travelled to Andorra accompanied by his foreign minister, Victòria Alsina, stated in the press conference after the meeting that this is a project that is "very significant for the Pyrenees" and that "it will need everyone's collaboration", and thus he thanked the head of the Andorran government for his offer. However, he gave the view that the scope of the collaboration with Andorra should be addressed as technical work progresses.
Technical committee
"When we talk about collaborating, we are talking in a very generic way. We have not talked about events or hotel infrastructures," said Espot, who insisted that Andorra is not demanding a specific participation and does not expect it to materialize until "the right time". However, he asserted that the important thing for the Pyrenees is for the candidacy to come to fruition, so Andorra, which has "experience in high-level events" and has downhill ski runs already approved for top-level competition, could be an important contribution to achieving this.
The two leaders reiterated during the joint press conference that the work on the candidacy of the 2030 Games is still at too early a stage to go into more detail, and referred to the work of the technical committee, which includes the different administrations involved as well as the Spanish Olympic Committee.
The entry of Andorra's name into conjecture over the bid arrives after the demand of the president of the Aragón autonomous community, Javier Lambán, who has demanded an equal role with Catalonia in the presentation of the candidacy. Indeed, during today's press appearance, Aragonès had to avoid a question about Lambán's statements yesterday in which he again demanded to participate on equal terms in the candidacy in addition to warning that in case of competition between the two territories to bid for the games, “Aragon would win.” Last week, Lambán pulled out at the last minute of a meeting scheduled with Aragonès in the town of Balaguer, at which the two presidents had planned to talk about the issue.
The meeting held today by Aragonès and Espot was the first bilateral meeting held by the governments of Andorra and Catalonia since 2009. As part of the meeting, the Generalitat also announced the opening in Andorra of a Catalan government foreign delegation.