Xavier Espot Zamora

Under Espot, Andorra remained one of the few European states maintaining a highly restrictive criminal ban on abortion for most of his two terms. From 2024-2026, his government moved towards decriminalising women who undergo abortions, but with a red line: not allowing abortions to be performed within the country so as not to jeopardise the episcopal co-principality.

State of the evidence

Documented

Rising rents and a shortage of affordable housing became the main social crisis of Espot's term. In autumn 2023, demonstrations brought together several hundred people, with some participants demanding the head of government's resignation. In April 2026, Espot was loudly booed at a public event attended by the French Co-Prince; the housing dispute remained central to the protests.

State of the evidence

Established

Legal status — source text

Not applicable

After negotiations on the association agreement with the European Union concluded, Espot promised a consultative but politically binding referendum. The timetable subsequently became contentious: opponents accused the government of postponing the vote, while Espot acknowledged in December 2025 that the promise of an excessively early referendum had contributed to polarising the debate. In July 2026, the EU Council approved the text; by September, signature was still awaited and Espot announced that the referendum would not coincide with the elections scheduled between February and April 2027.

State of the evidence

Documented

The proposal to gradually end the rent freeze triggered a new phase of social conflict in 2026. More than 1,400 people demonstrated in May against the so-called 'unfreezing' law, following months of mobilisation by the Sindicat de l'Habitatge. Opponents warned of eviction risks and demanded greater safeguards for tenants.

State of the evidence

Documented

Following new revelations and allegations concerning 'Operation Catalonia', Espot was questioned about Spain's role in the 2015 intervention in BPA. He denied that the Spanish government had pressured Andorran political leaders to close or intervene in the bank and maintained that the intervention responded to the FinCEN notice.

State of the evidence

Documented

The detailed cost of the Andorra Cycling Masters was not disclosed because of confidentiality clauses relating to contracts and remuneration. Concòrdia denounced the opacity of publicly funded expenditure, and its leader Cerni Escalé went so far as to suggest that the spending 'bordered on' misappropriation, triggering a direct confrontation with Espot.

State of the evidence

Established

Following activist Vanessa Mendoza Cortés's 2019 address to the UN CEDAW Committee about Andorra's abortion ban and social services, the government referred her statements to prosecutors. Criminal proceedings continued for several years and attracted strong criticism from Amnesty International and the Council of Europe's Commissioner for Human Rights because of their potentially chilling effect on freedom of expression.

State of the evidence

Established by a court

Person targeted by the proceedings

Vanessa Mendoza

Role of the person profiled

Protagonist not prosecuted

In 2021, Espot's government supported the creation of an immunology research centre in Ordino with Grifols, presented as a major economic diversification project. The proposal raised local concerns about its location, partnership model and public guarantees, before being abandoned by mutual agreement in July 2024.

State of the evidence

Established

Following the abandonment of the Grifols project, opposition groups requested that Espot appear before the General Council to explain the original decision, costs and failure of the partnership. The Democratic majority refused his personal appearance and proposed that ministers Conxita Marsol and Helena Mas answer questions within their respective areas, triggering allegations of lack of transparency and avoidance of political accountability.

State of the evidence

Documented

Legal status — source text

Not applicable

Espot's government introduced a package of measures including temporary compulsory allocation of long-vacant homes, restrictions on new tourist licences and limits on property purchases by certain non-residents. The possibility of compelling owners to make homes available following a procedure prompted opposition from property owners' associations and debate over constitutionality and private property protection.

State of the evidence

Established

The bill aimed at strengthening use of Catalan as a condition of residence sparked considerable controversy, notably concerning foreign workers, passive residents, streamers and YouTubers. Espot initially announced that certain residents without gainful activity in Andorra would be exempt from the language requirement. The final parliamentary text progressively extended a minimum level of Catalan to these categories.

State of the evidence

Documented

The Council of Europe's GRECO published its fifth evaluation report on Andorra, identifying several weaknesses concerning integrity in the highest executive offices: absence of systematic integrity checks before appointments, an inadequate lobbying framework, no post-employment restrictions, a need to strengthen anti-corruption resources and incomplete supervision of the government code of conduct.

State of the evidence

Established

In November 2022, the Cierco brothers, former BPA shareholders, lodged a criminal complaint against Xavier Espot relating to the intervention in the bank and subsequent developments. The proceedings represented a further attempt to directly implicate the head of government in criminal wrongdoing.

State of the evidence

Established by a court

Attribution

direct criminal complaint against Espot

In January 2023, Espot publicly opposed general restrictions on foreign property investment, warning of possible negative effects on the productive economy. In September, amid housing pressure and the risk of a rush to invest before a new tax, his government secured emergency passage of a temporary suspension of new foreign-funded property transactions.

State of the evidence

Documented

Legal status — source text

Not applicable

Following the 2019 elections, Xavier Espot's Demòcrates no longer held an absolute majority. Espot negotiated a coalition with Liberals d'Andorra and Ciutadans Compromesos. The rapprochement sparked major controversy because the liberals had stood on joint territorial lists with the Socialists under the Acord banner only weeks earlier; sections of the PS described it as a 'betrayal'.

State of the evidence

Documented

Legal status — source text

Not applicable

While Espot was a minister, transactions carried out by his father on family accounts at BPA, including an account for which his father held a mandate, became public following the banking crisis. Their proximity in time to the intervention of 10 March 2015 fuelled suspicions that the family might have had advance information.

State of the evidence

Disputed

Attribution

family financial movements with direct public explanation by Espot