Government declares the tender for daily meals at the Penitentiary Center void

The Government of Andorra has declared void the open national tender for the provision of daily meal preparation services for inmates of the Penitentiary Center. The executive agreement is dated November 4, 2026, and was made public through an edict signed by delegation by Minister Conxita Marsol Riart, published in the Official Bulletin of the Principality of Andorra (BOPA) no. 128, on November 11, 2026, in the Tenders and Auctions section. The tender remains without an awardee, and the service, which had been tendered via an urgency procedure, will have to undergo a new call for bids.

The procedure was initiated by a Government agreement on September 23, 2026, published in BOPA no. 111, on September 30, 2026. The file, identified by number 33552294 - 260124782, was processed as a national tender with an open procedure and urgent contracting modality, and its management corresponds to the Ministry of Justice and Interior, through the Department of Penitentiary Institutions.

The calendar set at that time was very tight: bids could be submitted until October 22, 2026, at 3:00 PM, through the Public Sector Procurement Platform, and the electronic opening of the envelopes was scheduled for October 28, 2026, at 10:00 AM. The regulatory documentation—the administrative clauses and technical specifications—was made available to bidders for free download on the Government’s procurement portal.

A tender without an awardee and a pending service

The edict of November 4 is limited to stating the result of the tender and making the declaration of void public. The text does not indicate how many bidders applied nor the specific reason for the declaration, nor does it set any new tender date or formally announce a new procedure.

This circumstance leaves the supply of daily meals for inmates without an awarded contract through this route. The tender had been declared urgent, a condition expressly included in the specifications and which underscores the essential nature of the service for the ordinary functioning of the center.

Chronology of the procedure

• 9-23-2026: Government agreement convening the tender.
• 9-30-2026: Publication of the tender edict in BOPA no. 111.
• 10-22-2026, 3 PM: Deadline for submission of bids.
• 10-28-2026, 10 AM: Electronic opening of the bids.
• 11-4-2026: Government agreement declaring the tender void.
• 11-11-2026: Publication of the declaration in BOPA no. 128.

Who is responsible for the file and how it can be appealed

• Body managing the file: Ministry of Justice and Interior (in the initial tender, with the Department of Penitentiary Institutions).
• Signature of the edict: Conxita Marsol Riart, Minister of Presidency, Economy, Labor and Housing, by delegation.
• Appeal: one month from the notification of the act, in accordance with article 129 of Law 14/2023, of July 3, consolidated text of the Administrative Code, published in BOPA no. 93, of July 26, 2023.
• Effects: according to articles 52 and 135 of the same Administrative Code, the filing of the appeal does not suspend the execution of the contested act.

Other void tenders in the same bulletin

The declaration is not an isolated case in BOPA no. 128. On the same day, the Superior Council of Justice published an edict, also dated November 4, declaring void the national public tender for the supply of computers for recording rooms, tendered in BOPA no. 100, of September 2, 2026.

The declaration of void forces the Government of Andorra to reschedule the tender for a daily and non-deferrable service, that of inmate catering, and leaves in the air the deadlines with which the department had planned to cover it via emergency procedures. For operators in the collective catering sector, the tender is open again, without the edict yet providing conditions or a calendar.

Source: Official Bulletin of the Principality of Andorra (BOPA), no. 128, November 11, 2026, section 03. Government / Tenders and auctions, p. 1 (official reference: GC_2026_11_05_16_45_41).