Gillian Keller
A SERIES of brochures and plaques are to go up highlighting the good work of the Balearic tourist tax.
The plaques are to be erected at sites funded by the controversial tax that doubles in summer and has been unpopular with some tourists abroad.
The plan is to explain what the tax is for and to highlight the various areas where it has been used.
From May to October, adult visitors will pay a fee per night, with a 50% discount after nine days. Hotels with a 5-star rating have a tax of 4€ per night, which is reduced to only 1€ in the off season, while 4-star hotels are €3.
Holiday rentals and 3-star hotels are €2 a night in season, and €0.50 in the low season.
Many other European cities have a similar tourist tax, with 5-star hotels in Italy costing €7 per person per night in Rome, and €5 in Florence.
In Berlin the tax is five percent of the hotel cost, and in Vienna and Salzburg, tourists pay just over three percent of the hotel bill.
In Bruges the fee is flat rate of €2 per person per night, while Brussels has complex formula that can be expensive.
Prague, Paris, Nice and Lyon all have a tourist tax below €2 a night.
Portugal, Hungary, and Greece also have a tourist tax paid at hotels.
