Arinsal

The name Arinsal is thought to be Basque in origin, from arantze, "thorn" or "hawthorn" — the same root as the nearby villages of Arans and Ransol — and the village appears in documents of the 12th and 13th centuries as Arensau. For centuries it was a small settlement in the valley of the Arinsal river, in the parish of La Massana, at the foot of the highest mountains in Andorra: Coma Pedrosa, Medacorba and the Pic del Pla de l'Estany all stand within its territory, and historically Coma Pedrosa gave Andorra protection from invasion on this side. The village church of Sant Andreu was built in the 17th century.

The ski era began in 1973, when Josep Serra installed the first lifts in the Comallémpia valley above the village. The parish council, the Comú of La Massana, soon took the ski area over, and over the following years the neighbouring ski areas of Pal and Ordino-Arcalís were developed. Arinsal and Pal were then linked by cable car, and in 2004 the three areas were brought together as Vallnord, on a single lift pass.

As a result the village has grown a great deal, with hotels, apartments and chalets around the old core, which is still clearly visible. Summer brought a second season: the ski slopes became the Vallnord Bike Park, and the area has hosted rounds of the UCI Mountain Bike World Cup.

Arinsal's culture is shaped by two seasons. In winter it is a resort very popular with English-speaking skiers, and the slopes of Arinsal and Pal are known as good terrain for beginners and intermediates — many skiers start here before moving on to Soldeu or Pas de la Casa. The bars are numerous and mostly family-friendly, with après-ski and live music. In summer the same slopes fill with mountain bikers on the cross-country and downhill circuits, and walkers set out for Coma Pedrosa and the lakes.

Unlike Andorra's more seasonal resorts, Arinsal has quite a few full-time residents, and the old village keeps its parish life. The church of Sant Andreu holds a 17th-century altarpiece of the Virgin Mary, and the wider parish of La Massana keeps its calendar of celebrations: the Rosary festival on the second Sunday of July, the festa major on 15 August and the patronal feast on 17 November.

The parish's past is kept in two museums: the ethnographic Casa Rull in Sispony, and the Farga Rossell, a mid-19th-century forge where iron working is demonstrated.

Arinsal had about 1,600 inhabitants in 2009. The village sits at about 1,470 metres in the Arinsal valley, close to the border with Spain at Tor, in the Pallars.

Work follows the seasons. From around December to March the economy is skiing — the gondola, ski schools, equipment shops, hotels, apartments, bars and restaurants. In summer the bike park, walking and adventure activities such as via ferrata and horse riding keep part of the village busy, but outside the ski season much of the resort, including some bars and restaurants, closes.

For more than daily needs, residents go down the valley: a bus links Arinsal with La Massana and Andorra la Vella, though not very often, and the capital is the place for serious shopping. Above the village the road continues for a short way, and a semi-private road winds up the mountain to the top station of the lift. Arinsal also has its own heliport, one of two in the parish, with commercial helicopter services — though no scheduled passenger flights.

The local food is Catalan mountain cooking. Trinxat, a dish of the Pyrenees made with potatoes, cabbage and pork and sometimes served with salt herring, is one of Andorra's typical dishes; escudella is a meat and vegetable soup built around a pilota, a very large meatball spiced with garlic and parsley, with vegetables such as cabbage, celery and carrots and sometimes botifarra sausage.

Cured pork — the embotits, such as fuet and llonganissa — and botifarra are staples, often eaten with beans as mongetes amb botifarra; wild mushrooms are prized, and caragols a la llauna are cooked snails. Desserts include crema catalana, a set cream of egg yolk, milk and sugar, and mel i mató, fresh cheese with honey.

Because Arinsal lives from visitors, its restaurants cover a wide range for a small village: several serve local Catalan dishes, and others offer Argentinian-style steak, Mexican food, pizza and pasta, and pub food. Evenings in winter centre on the bars, and self-catering is common, with a couple of supermarkets in the village.