BAD news has arrived for Catalunya’s holidaymakers as the region doubles its tourist tax.
From April 1, Catalonia’s new law doubling the tourist tax across the region has come into effect, following approval by the regional parliament.
In the region’s capital, Barcelona, tourist taxes jumped by 100 per cent yesterday.
For luxury five-star hotels the nightly tourists tax doubled from €3.5 to €7 yesterday.
Outside Barcelona, the tourist tax will rise gradually, reaching up to €4.50 per night between April 2026 and March 2027, and increasing further to €6 per night thereafter.
Under the new regulation, Barcelona City Council will also be allowed to raise its maximum tourist tax surcharge from €4 to €8.
The increase will be phased in gradually, at one euro per year, reaching the €8 cap by 2029.
Other city councils in the region will also be permitted to levy their own surcharge of up to €4.
A quarter of the tourist tax revenue is earmarked for affordable housing initiatives while the remaining 75 per percent will fund the Fomento del Turismo program, supporting services such as cleaning, security, and other tourism-related infrastructure.
Support for the new law came from the PSC, ERC and Comuns parties.
PSC delegate Susana Martinez said the tourist tax does not deter visitors and described the increase as ‘common sense,’ noting that it helps fund tourism-related public services.
However, Vox MPs, including Javier Ramirez, have slammed the new law.
He said that ‘people are buying into the narrative of tourismphobia and fiscal extortion’.
Ramirez also criticised the decision to delegate 25 per cent of the revenue towards housing: “What fault lies with a family that freely comes to visit the city, to boost the economy, that they have caused the housing market to collapse? None whatsoever”.
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