Same-sex marriage has been legal in Andorra since 17 February 2023. Andorra first established stable unions on 23 March 2005, providing same-sex couples with some of the rights and benefits of marriage, and later enacted civil unions on 25 December 2014, offering a greater set of rights. On 21 July 2022, the General Council voted to open civil marriage to same-sex couples. The law was promulgated by Co-Prince Emmanuel Macron on 17 August 2022, and came into effect six months later (i.e. 17 February 2023).
Stable unions
On 21 February 2005, the General Council passed a bill legalising "stable unions". The new law was promulgated by Co-Prince Jacques Chirac, and published in the Official Bulletin of the Principality of Andorra on 23 March 2005. Co-Prince Joan Enric, the Bishop of Urgell, did not sign the law. Although the co-princes are both the heads of state of Andorra, only a single signature is required to sanction and promulgate new laws, and to order their publication in the Official Bulletin. The relationship is called unió estable de parella (, meaning "stable union of a couple") in Catalan.
Partners seeking to enter a stable union must not be related in direct line by consanguinity or adoption, or in the collateral line by consanguinity to the fourth degree. Both partners must be adults or emancipated minors, must not be already married or in an existing stable union, must live as a couple and at least one partner must be a resident of Andorra or an Andorran national. The couple must submit an application accompanied by the following documents: a sworn declaration of cohabitation, a copy of the current passport or identity document of both partners, a certificate of residency for each partner (Andorran nationals are exempt from this requirement), a private pact signed by both partners setting out property and personal relations arising from the relationship and the rights and obligations of the relationship, and a sworn statement by two witnesses confirming the permanent nature of the cohabitation. The stable union is registered six months after the declaration and is then entered into the Register of Stable Unions ().
A couple in a stable union have legal rights and responsibilities, including the obligation to support one another, the right to compensation and maintenance in the event of a breakup and the same rights as spouses for the purposes of social security and employment law. The stable union law also recognises the right to adopt a child, subject to the same rules as a married couple, but only for heterosexual couples. A stable union ends by the marriage of either party, the death of either party, a unilateral declaration by formal written notification notified to the other party or a mutual declaration.
Civil unions
On 2 June 2014, following an earlier announcement, the ruling Democrats for Andorra (DA) party introduced a bill to establish civil unions. The civil unions were intended to be equal to marriage in everything but name, as the word "marriage" was the main reason why the DA voted against the Social Democrats' same-sex marriage bill in May 2014. The bill would also grant same-sex couples joint adoption rights. After months of consultation, the bill passed the General Council on 27 November 2014 on a vote of 20 to 3 with several abstentions. The bill was published in the official journal on 24 December, following promulgation by Co-Prince François Hollande, and took effect on 25 December 2014. Andorran LGBT groups denounced the law as discriminatory.
The ability to enter into a civil union ended on 17 February 2023 following the passage of a bill in July 2022 legalising same-sex marriage. All unions were converted to civil marriages.
Statistics
By the end of 2017, 35 same-sex civil unions had been performed in Andorra; 21 were between male couples and 14 between female couples.
Same-sex marriage
Background
On 21 April 2009, Jaume Bartumeu, leader of the Social Democratic Party (PS), announced that the party would push for a debate on same-sex marriage in Andorra if it won the 2009 elections. The Social Democrats won the election and Bartumeu became Head of Government on 5 June 2009, but no subsequent action was taken to legalise same-sex marriage, and the PS was defeated by the Democrats for Andorra in the 2011 parliamentary elections.