On December 2, skiers in the Andorran resort of Grandvalira.

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Lionel BONAVENTURE / AFP

If it could have been lacking during certain Christmas holidays, this year, snow is very present in the Pyrenees.

But coronavirus requires, the French authorities have shut down the ski lifts on this side of the massif.

A few kilometers from the border, the cable cars have resumed their slow broom.

Andorra reopened its ski resorts on Saturday.

But the right to be able to slide on the snow-covered slopes of the principality is for the moment only reserved for the residents of this independent enclave wedged between France and Spain.

The gauges of the stations are also reduced and the mask obligatory.

The estacions d'esquí confirm the obertura progressiva from 2 de gener exclusively to residents of Andorra https://t.co/sS7WYQfSH0

- Govern d'Andorra (@GovernAndorra) December 31, 2020

On Thursday, the Andorran government indicated the possibility of reopening its tracks to its French and Spanish neighbors from January 9 if the health situation is more favorable.

This gradual and partial opening takes into account a complex "search for balance", according to the head of the Andorran government Xavier Espot.

"We cannot open the stations in a reckless and irresponsible manner" and take the risk that Spain and France "close our borders" and no longer allow their citizens to go to Andorra "because we have anticipated too much" , he had warned Thursday.

Skiing, 30 to 40% of GDP

At the Pal Arinsal resort, skiers could enjoy 43% of the ski area on Saturday.

But to get on the ski lifts, they first had to show an identity document proving that they were indeed Andorrans or residents.

In order to encourage them to put on their skis, the resorts have decreed that the slopes are free this weekend.

“We are just asking to end the season.

But it will be a shocking year, very complicated anyway, ”Grandvalira station manager Juan Ramón Moreno told AFP.

"If we followed a commercial approach, we would not have opened the station, because we are going through a very complex financial period", for his part affirmed the director of Vallnord-Pal Arinsal, Josep Marticella, however highlighting "the commitment to the customer ”.

The latter indicates that the late opening of ski resorts this winter has already resulted in a loss of seven million euros.

For the principality, which has some 80,000 inhabitants, the winter sports season weighs 30 to 40% of the GDP.

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