Andorra’s gambling culture is defined by caution and a very recent opening-up. After a general prohibition dating to a 1929 decree, the tiny Pyrenean principality legalised regulated gambling in the 2010s and opened its first and only casino — Unnic / Gran Casino Andorra — on 4 March 2023. Gambling here is a controlled, tourism-linked activity rather than a deep-rooted national pastime, and public data on the market is limited.

From prohibition to a single casino

For most of the 20th century, gambling was broadly prohibited in Andorra under a 1929 decree (the Decree of the Veguers) establishing a general ban on games of chance. Bingo, in traditional form, endured and was eventually regulated by a 1996 bingo law. As the country modernised and leaned into tourism, the government built a wider legal framework through Law 37/2014 (in force January 2015), later consolidated as Law 4/2021 and updated by Law 14/2024. A public tender process drew interest from international operators, but the casino licence ultimately went to the Andorran company Jocs SA, working with Austrian technology firm Novomatic. After a lengthy and at times controversial process, Unnic opened in the centre of Andorra la Vella in March 2023.

The Unnic model

Unnic is framed as an integrated leisure centre rather than a pure gambling hall, sitting within a larger complex that also houses restaurants and entertainment space. The casino area offers roulette, blackjack, poker and around 155 gaming positions including electronic machines. Positioning gambling inside a broader entertainment venue reflects Andorra’s cautious approach: keep gaming visible and taxed, but bounded.

With only one casino, the popular-games picture is straightforward: roulette, blackjack, poker and slots anchor the floor. Bingo has a long regulated history in the principality and remains part of the mix. Lotteries are also culturally significant — historically, many residents in this cross-border microstate have taken part in neighbouring Spanish and French draws, and the treatment of those prizes is a recurring tax question. Because there is no active domestic online-licensing regime, any online play happens on offshore sites outside Andorran oversight.

Attitudes and notable laws

Andorran attitudes to gambling are pragmatic and restrained. The choice of a single-casino model, the drawn-out licensing process, and a regulator (CRAJ) empowered to run a prohibition/self-exclusion mechanism all point to a country weighing tourism revenue against social-harm concerns. The result is a small, tightly bounded legal market rather than a wide-open one.

18+ only. If gambling stops being fun, take a break or self-exclude — help is available.

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