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His location at Seo de Urgel, a few kilometres inside Spain, is a legacy of history, only and his independence from Spain as Co-Prince had, for example, the natural consequence that he sought refuge in 1936 from the Spanish Civil War, not within Spain, but within Andorra, when by joint decision with his French-Co-Prince, a special force of French "garde mobile" was raised to protect Andorra.
4. Nor would the Ecclesiastical Viguier regard the Pope as having any ultimate rights of political sovereignty in Andorra, the Bishop being regarded, in effect, as his representative in the role of Co-Prince. I once suggested this interpretation to the Ecclesiastical Viguier, enquiring whether the existence of a photograph of the Pope hanging above those of the two Co-Princes in the Andorra Council Chamber, symbolised his political paramountcy. I was told this was quite wrong. The Pope's "political" role had been limited to two occasions in history. The first in 1288, confirming the statutes of 1278 establishing the Co-Principality arrangement, was an act of witness rather than of sovereignty. The second in the 19th Century, was related primarily to a personal problem concerning the then incumbent of the see.
5. Until the 1970's a rudimentary mediaeval parish democracy could co-exist in Andorra with two "sovereigns", who acted in effect, as feudal - though Andorran - monarchs who granted carefully measured amounts of direct participation in their own affairs to their citizens in a simple rural economy, easily run. The economic development of the 70's fomented by tourism, which increased during the decade from some 22 million visitors, mainly French and Spanish only, to over 8 million from numerous nationalities, bringing with it a demand for labour in which the 8,000 or so Andorrans now represent less than a quarter of the population of their own country, radically changed the administrative demands on the Co-Prince structure. The response was to establish the new ministerial type government which came into effect 1982, releasing in its turn further currents of Andorran nationalism and a consequent urge to express Andorran personality internationally in the exchange of political controversy between a governing group and the opposition in Parliament. Sr. Ribas also believes that Spanish entry into the European Community will require Andorra to project herself more internationally as an
'independent' sovereign state. He has spoken to the press about the "urgent" need for Andorra to establish relations with the Community to study the problems of an Andorra which will be surrounded by Community members, and about his efforts to do so being so far blocked for various reasons "alien to the wishes of the Andorran government".
6. Spanish entry into the Community, with its prospect of gradual liberalisation of admission into Spain of community products, will also further diminish the attraction of Andorra as a shopping centre for Spanish tourists. The Andorran economy must become more diverse. Sr. Ribas has spoken to me of the urgency of using Andorra's low tax structure to encourage new industries such as micro-chips, as well as international congresses, games
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