KING Felipe VI and his wife Queen Letizia have arrived in Andorra for an official visit – which might not seem very newsworthy were it not for the fact they are the first Spanish monarchs to do so in 602 years.
And this makes them the first Spanish monarchs ever to do so, since Andorra's Parliament has only been in existence for six centuries.
One of the oldest – and smallest – in the world, the Casa de la Vall in the capital city, Andorra la Vella, was formally created in 1419.
Nestled into the Pyrénées and popular for skiing and hillwalking breaks, and for its duty-free shops, Andorra is also the only country on earth whose sole official language is catalán, the regional tongue of Spain's north-eastern region of Catalunya.
In fact, the nearest heliport, and where HRHs Felipe VI and Letizia were 'dropped off', is in La Seu d'Urgell in the Catalunya province of Lleida.
It would never have occurred to the Spanish public that their Royal leaders had never made an official visit to Andorra, given the fact that it shares a land border with Spain and that anyone who heads north of the Pyrénées via any mode of transport more or less passes it en route – but perhaps this geographical proximity is the reason.
Indeed, few Spanish residents could even name the president of Andorra – but, currently, he is Xavier Espot, and his deputy is Roser Suñé.
Five parties have seats in Andorra's Parliament, which comprises a total of 28 MPs.
Although a sovereign, independent nation, the Principality of Andorra's official heads of State are not resident there, and it is one of the few countries on earth that has two – in a similar way to HRH Elizabeth II's being head of State of the Commonwealth, Andorra's are King Felipe VI of Spain and French president Emmanuel Macron.
This makes it one of the only known countries where the head of State rôle is shared between a republic and a monarchy.
Their actual part in running the country is merely nominal, and was devised this way as a symbol of the spirit of equality, fairness and balance in relations between France and Spain.
Formal diplomatic relations were started with Andorra in 1993, at around the time when the United Nations officially recognised it as a sovereign State – until then, it had been a separate country, but not considered as such legally by the organisation, similar to the Republic of Kosovo which is recognised by 98 UN member States but not officially and unanimously.
The highest authority figure to have visited Andorra so far has been former Spanish president Mariano Rajoy, in 2015, exactly four years after Spain ceased to formally consider Andorra a 'tax haven'.
King Felipe and Queen Letizia's visit has started off with a tour of the city hall in Andorra la Vella, or the Comú, and HRH Letizia had planned a meeting with Andorra's education minister Ester Villarubla to find out more about the nation's system for including disabled pupils in mainstream schooling.
About a third of Andorra's population – 27,000 of them – are expatriates from Spain, many of whom have lived there for decades, and well over 100 of these were waiting to greet the Royals outside the Comú, some of them waving the red and white Andorra flag.
The King and Queen generally provoked a positive reaction wherever they went in Andorra, and have been told time and time again that they are 'very welcome'.
Read more at thinkSPAIN.com