A Thousand Andorras: the liberal utopia splitting economists
A proposal to turn every Spanish region into a sovereign country, Andorra-style, has divided analysts. Efficiency or tribal atomisation?
English · Original discussion in Spanish · Published
A Thousand Andorras: the dream of a confederal Spain runs into reality
Can you imagine a Spain made up of a thousand independent mini-states, each with its own government, its own taxes and its own power to attract investment? The proposal, floated in liberal circles, would turn each comarca (a Spanish local region) into a sovereign country sharing only an army and a handful of ceremonial expenses. The goal: eliminate ministries, regional parliaments and the tax agency, drastically cutting public spending.
The idea is not new. It has a name: cantonalism, and it was already tried in Spain during the First Republic. Its supporters point to the example of Andorra, the Pyrenean microstate with low taxes and minimal administration which, according to this analysis, proves that small works. If every comarca operated like Andorra, they argue, bureaucracy would collapse and competition between territories would force taxes down.
But the criticism was not long in coming. Opponents argue that atomising the country down to the comarca scale would lead to a "tribal stone age", with the loss of economies of scale and fragmentation of the domestic market. They point out that the Greek city-states or the German counties prior to unification are not comparable: their historical and technological context was different. They also note that Spain's two major political parties would do everything possible to prevent it, with millions of voters ready to defend the status quo.
The underlying debate is whether the size of the state is the key variable for prosperity or whether, as one commenter suggests, the problem is not one of scale but of sarracena and political culture. While some see the multiplication of sovereign states as the only path to freedom and efficiency, others dismiss it as an unworkable dream which, if implemented, would leave Spain without enough Pyrenees to fill a thousand Andorras.
The truth is that, for now, the discussion hovers between the ideal and the ironic. With housing and coffee prices through the roof, the proposal sounds like the definitive solution that never arrives. And cantonalism, as a concept, remains more of a political weapon than a governing programme.
Related debates in the forum
Can you imagine a Spain made up of a thousand independent mini-states, each with its own government, its own taxes and its own power to attract investment? The proposal, floated in liberal circles, would turn each comarca (a Spanish local region) into a sovereign country sharing only an army and a handful of ceremonial expenses. The goal: eliminate ministries, regional parliaments and the tax agency, drastically cutting public spending.
The idea is not new. It has a name: cantonalism, and it was already tried in Spain during the First Republic. Its supporters point to the example of Andorra, the Pyrenean microstate with low taxes and minimal administration which, according to this analysis, proves that small works. If every comarca operated like Andorra, they argue, bureaucracy would collapse and competition between territories would force taxes down.
But the criticism was not long in coming. Opponents argue that atomising the country down to the comarca scale would lead to a "tribal stone age", with the loss of economies of scale and fragmentation of the domestic market. They point out that the Greek city-states or the German counties prior to unification are not comparable: their historical and technological context was different. They also note that Spain's two major political parties would do everything possible to prevent it, with millions of voters ready to defend the status quo.
The underlying debate is whether the size of the state is the key variable for prosperity or whether, as one commenter suggests, the problem is not one of scale but of sarracena and political culture. While some see the multiplication of sovereign states as the only path to freedom and efficiency, others dismiss it as an unworkable dream which, if implemented, would leave Spain without enough Pyrenees to fill a thousand Andorras.
The truth is that, for now, the discussion hovers between the ideal and the ironic. With housing and coffee prices through the roof, the proposal sounds like the definitive solution that never arrives. And cantonalism, as a concept, remains more of a political weapon than a governing programme.
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Summary of a discussion on Burbuja.info - Foro de economía, actualidad y política., translated from Spanish and reviewed before publication. Read the full discussion (13 replies).
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