Influencers, e-sportsmen, youtubers: Andorra seduces and attracts the world of the web, thanks to favorable tax conditions and a quiet living environment, with the aim of making this small principality nestled in the heart of the Pyrenees a bulwark of digital professions.
Laptop in hand, luxury bag on her arm, Laia Falco walks the streets of Andorra la Vella to feed her “lifestyle” Instagram account, where she appears in restaurants and clothing stores in the area.
This 39-year-old Spaniard, followed by 170,000 people, returned to settle in Andorra at the beginning of 2022, a few years after his first stay.
“Quality of life, security” are some of the reasons that prompted her to settle at the foot of the snowy peaks of the Pyrenees, in the highest capital in Europe (1,023 m).
“Attractive taxation”
With a personal income tax of 10%, 10% also on business profits, and a VAT of 4.5%, Andorra and its almost 80,000 inhabitants stand out from their large Spanish and French neighbors.
“It is an attractive tax system but it is approved at the European level, we are no longer a tax haven,” Eric Bartolomé, the principality’s Secretary of State for the Economy, told AFP.
An increasingly important economic migration, accelerated after the start of the Covid epidemic due to the arrival of the largest Spanish youtubers, such as “El Rubius” and his 40 million subscribers on the video platform.
“Then it skyrocketed, when locating Andorra, some were able to discover it as a country that is right next to Spain with living conditions that they consider optimal,” estimates Eric Bartolomé.
Security, salary…
Other professions have followed in the footsteps of these “gamers”: merchants, people specialized in e-commerce, influencers, but also renowned athletes.
With the welcome of this new population, Andorra wants to “diversify an economy highly dependent on tourism, snow and border trade”, popular among the French who come to collect alcohol, cigarettes and perfumes at low prices.
Several agencies have even emerged to facilitate expatriations to this small country located 2h30 from Toulouse and Barcelona, such as Set up Andorra, run by Virginie Hergel, a Frenchwoman who has lived there for 22 years.
“There is an attractive tax system, but I also have many safety and quality of life demands here. When you have minor children, there is no better place than the Principality to raise them,” says the person who accompanies people “for a minimum of one year.” who wish to settle.
Among his clients, Vincent Huet, 29, a video game designer, came for work at the beginning of the year. “Everything is better, it completely suits my lifestyle, really much more than in Paris where I was just for work,” he describes.
With more responsibilities than his last job in Paris, his salary has “more than doubled.”
Youtubers keep an eye on Andorra
“Taxation did not have a direct impact on my decision to come to Andorra,” he says, admitting, however, that without it, his employer “may not be able to offer that salary.”
So, can the small mountainous country wedged between Catalonia and the French department of Ariège compete with Dubai and its cohorts of greeted influencers with many advantages?
“Maybe I can’t grow my influencer business like I would in Barcelona or Madrid because the partnership possibilities are less important here, but for me there are many more positives than negatives”, confirms Laia Falco.
Source: BFM TV
