Mayoral candidate wants cap on cruise ships visiting Spain's Valencia

VALENCIA’S deputy mayor and socialist candidate for the top job in May’s municipal elections says she wants a cap on cruise ships docking at the port.

Sandra Gomez would implement a quota in association with the Port Authority ‘for the well-being residents and for the satisfaction of all tourists’.

Gomez said she wanted to stop overcrowding caused by cruise day-trippers in some parts of the city.

“We want Valencia’s tourism to remain sustainable and not generate pressure on the city’s resources, and therefore we have to control cruise tourism,” she added.

The deputy mayor said a balance needed to be achieved especially with the city being recognised as the European capital of smart tourism.

“We must continue implementing measures that allow us to improve the management of tourist flows through the use of technologies, interaction with tourists or the expansion of attractions to new areas,” indicated Gomez.

She said that there were tourist activities that resulted in little or no economic generation for the city and went against the concept of of smart tourism.

Compared to other municipalities in the Valencian Community, Valencia is also supportive of the new regional tourist tax which is down to individual councils to levy if they want to.

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