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TOURISM

Why Spain’s tourist taxes are not such a big deal

Opinions over tourist taxes are divided in Spain, as an apparent wave of resentment against mass tourism brews. Which places have these ecotaxes, where are they being mulled and do they really represent a big spend for visitors?

Published: 8 May 2024 11:19 CEST
Updated: 11 May 2024 08:30 CEST
Why Spain's tourist taxes are not such a big deal
What's the deal with tourist taxes in Spain? Photo: Jo Kassis

Tourist taxes in Spain are small fees that are added to your nightly accommodation rates and go directly to the local councils and government.

The main purpose is to help finance conservation and cultural projects and also promote sustainable tourism practices and help combat overtourism. For this reason, they are sometimes also referred to as eco-taxes.

Which places in Spain have tourist taxes and how much are they?

Currently, tourist taxes are only applied in Catalonia and the Balearic Islands, but several other regions are considering implementing them too.

Everyone over the age of 16 is obliged to pay tourist tax when they stay in hotels, apartments, campsites and cruise ships in Catalonia, and everyone over the age of 12 in the Balearics. Your accommodation will typically charge you when you arrive, as it’s added separately on top of your nightly rate.

The amount you pay depends on the area you stay in, the type of accommodation and the length of stay. The prices in Catalonia can range from €0.60 per night in some areas up to €6.25 per night if you’re staying in a five-star hotel in the centre of Barcelona. The rates recently increased from April 1st 2024.

For example, anyone staying in five-star hotels will pay an extra €6.75 per night, which will add up to €47.25 for a week per person. Those staying in an Airbnb self-catering apartment will pay €5.50 per night or €38.50 extra for the week per person.

In the Balearics, the price ranges from €0.25 per night if you’re staying in low season, up to €4 per night for a luxury five-star property during high season.

It’s not just foreign tourists that are subject to these taxes, foreign residents and even Spanish nationals must pay tourist taxes if they stay in tourist accommodation in these two regions. There may sometimes be a reduction for these people if they are staying for reasons other than tourism, however, including work or health.

Catalonia introduced tourist taxes in 2012 and was the first region to do so. This was followed by the Balearic Islands in 2016.

Recently there has been a lot of backlash against these added fees in the foreign and national press, while tourism associations and critics are worried that if more regions introduce them it will add an extra financial burden for holidaymakers and may even deter some of them from coming to Spain.

The reality is that these taxes will most likely affect people staying in cities and resorts already suffering from overtourism the most, as well staying those staying in five-star accommodation who can afford it.

Those staying in budget to midrange accommodation will have a small extra fee, but this should be factored into the cost of a holiday.

READ ALSO: Slow travel – Six inspiring ways to experience it and help Spain

Where in Spain have ecotaxes been rejected?

At the end of 2022, Valencia announced it would also impose a tourist tax to be reinvested into the sustainable development of the tourism sector and address the issue of lack of affordable housing in popular tourist areas.

It was met with some criticism, so at the end of 2023 the new right-wing coalition government decided to scrap the plan.

The Canary Islands were also considering introducing an eco-tax following protests against mass tourism, but the Canary Parliament voted against it after much pushback from right-wing parties.

READ ALSO: Spain’s Canaries rule out tourist tax and property ban for non-residents

The Spanish capital Madrid also considered introducing these taxes in 2015 and again in 2018, but the plan never actually materialised and some saw it as unnecessary.

Which places in Spain are considering implementing tourist taxes?

Not every city hall in Spain is against these taxes, recently, many other locations in Spain have been considering implementing them.

The Castilla-La Mancha city of Toledo has been studying whether it should impose tourist taxes. The reason for this is that many visitors to Toledo come on day trips from Madrid and only spend a few hours in the city. As they’re not staying overnight and often not eating in the city either, Toledo sees very little of this tourist money. 

Therefore, the city is considering charging a tourist tax for the tour operators who run the day trips and tours in order to improve facilities for tourists at the bus stops and public toilets etc. The idea is only to tax these tour groups, not individual tourists or families.

The Andalusian capital of Seville is another city that wants to start implementing a tourist tax.

A recent report by the City Council revealed that the city could have earned just over €24 million if it had introduced tourist taxes in 2023.

It based these on figures of €2.33 per overnight stay for those in 1-3 star properties and a charge of €2.63 per night for apartments. For entire homes for tourist use, the tax would be around €3.17 and for five-star hotels it would be €3.84.

But, the central Andalusian government is against the idea and does not want the city to introduce it.

Are tourist taxes such a big deal?

The general consensus is that these taxes do go to help improve the local environment, tourist facilities and make trips more sustainable.

They have certainly done little to resolve the issue of mass tourism, as evidenced by rising visitor numbers in Catalonia and the Balearics. 

READ MORE: Why Spain’s mass tourism measures haven’t worked

However, in terms of the expense they entail for foreign visitors, it cannot be considered to be a dealbreaker to have to spend an extra €94 for a couple staying at a five-star hotel in Barcelona for a week. 

Up to 137 major tourist destinations across Europe from Amsterdam to Venice have rolled out tourist taxes, which add slightly to the already higher costs of international travel in recent years. 

And Spain is no different – hotel, flights, and even alcohol have experienced price hikes, making a summer holiday in Spain this summer more expensive than the previous year. 

And yet, tourist tax or not, Spain remains a more cost-effective holiday destination than most countries in Western Europe.

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TOURISM

FACT CHECK: No, Spain’s Balearics haven’t banned tourists from drinking alcohol

Over the last few days, there have been a slew of sensationalist headlines mainly from UK media stating that Mallorca and Ibiza have banned alcohol.

Published: 16 May 2024 11:35 CEST
FACT CHECK: No, Spain's Balearics haven't banned tourists from drinking alcohol

Anyone having read the news about Spain in the UK over the past few days would be forgiven for thinking that drinking alcohol had been completely banned on the ‘party’ islands of Mallorca and Ibiza, but that’s not exactly the case. 

GB News went with ‘‘I cannot believe this!’ Britons fume at ‘tough’ new alcohol restrictions in popular parts of Spain’, while the Daily Mail wrote: ‘A kick in the Balearics for boozy Brits’.

Euronews reported ‘No more ‘sun, sex and sangria’ tourism in Ibiza and Mallorca under new alcohol laws’ and The Drinks Business simply said ‘Balearics bring in booze ban’.

It’s easy to understand why holidaymakers are confused and there has already been quite a lot of backlash, particularly from Brits.

Most of these articles concede further down that the truth is that the islands have only updated and toughened up laws on drinking in the street, and have also put a stop to shops selling alcohol late at night.

All this is in a bid to try and curb anti-social behaviour which many locals have been protesting against recently.

In fact, the rules don’t even apply to the whole of the Balearics or even the whole of Mallorca and Ibiza, they only apply to three resorts in Mallorca – Palma, Calvià and Llucmajor and one in Ibiza – Sant Antoni de Portmany.

As well as a ban on drinking in the streets in these areas, shops in these locations will also be forced to close between 9.30pm and 8am.

It’s not only that they will be banned from selling alcohol between these times, like many reported, but that they will have to close completely. 

The Governing Council of the Balearic Islands approved the modification of the Decree Law 1/2020 at the proposal of the Minister for Tourism, Culture and Sports, which regulates ‘excess tourism’.

The changes aim to promote responsible tourism and the improvement in the quality of tourist areas.

The ban also extends to one nautical mile or 1.85km off the coast, in a bid to put a stop to party boats from coming in too close to shore or picking up extra passengers.

This doesn’t mean that you can’t drink at all at night. Bars, clubs and restaurants in these resorts will still be serving booze late into the night, you just can’t walk down the street with your bottle of beer.

Anyone found breaking the rules will be subject to fines between €500 to €1,500.

The government of the Balearics also approved an annual spending of €16 million from tourist taxes which will be allocated for the modernisation and improvement of these areas and enforcing the ban.

The new laws came into effect on May 11th and the government has confirmed that they will be in effect until at least December 2027. 

What has changed from before?

The new decree reinforces laws that were brought in in 2020 banning alcohol offers such as two-for-one drinks, happy hours and bar crawls in these areas. These will also be extended until 2027. 

The prohibition of alcohol sales between 9:30pm and 8am was also already in place, but now the shops will be forced to close entirely.

The main change that will affect holidaymakers will be the ban on drinking alcohol on the streets.

Nothing new

But this is nothing new when it comes to Spain. Aragón, the Canary Islands, Cantabria, Castilla y León, Castilla-La Mancha, Catalonia, Valencia, Extremadura, Madrid and La Rioja all have some type of ban on what is known in Spain as botellón, essentially drinking alcohol with friends in a public place (street, square etc).

The Balearics are simply catching up to a large majority of the country, where this is already the norm.

All of this comes on the tail of mass complaints from the locals, particularly in Ibiza, where residents are planning to take to the streets at 8pm on May 24th to call on authorities to act on the impact tourism is having on locals’ living standards.  

It started with calls online to “imitate the protests that took place in the Canaries” in April, with many locals feeling that the issues that Ibiza faces are even worse than those of the Atlantic Archipelago. 

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