Starting in October, Barcelona tourists would have to pay some extra money for their stay as the City Council voted to increase the tourist tax for the second time this year.
Be reminded that Barcelona has two tourist taxes: the Catalonian regional tax and the city tax.
The city tax is set to increase from €3.25 to €4.00 per night—the maximum legally allowed—for a maximum of 7 nights. That means that if you stay longer, you won’t be compelled to pay any more city taxes.
On the other side, the regional tax is accommodation-dependent.
According to the latest update in April, if you opt for Airbnb-type accommodation, you have to pay “€2.75 per night; €1.70 for four-star hotels, and €3.50 for five-star hotels.” Cruise passengers making a stop in Barcelona for less than 12 hours must pay €3 or only €2 if spending the night.
The news comes right after Mayor Jaume Collboni announced that his administration won’t renew the licenses of all tourist apartments (10.101) by November 2028.
International media outlets have reported that with the new tax increase, the city looks to contain mass tourism. But that’s rather a simplistic analysis.
The truth is that Barcelona presents an annual deficit of nearly 50 million euros regarding the expenses caused by tourism. So that money has to come from somewhere.
As of today, the city “collects 95 million euros from the tourist tax, but direct expenses caused by tourism in cleaning, security or transportation amount to 142 million, which represents a deficit of 50 million euros,” revealed republican councilwoman Elisenda Alamany in June.
With the new fee, the government forecasts that tax collection could increase from 75 million euros to 120 million.
Proponents are also working to get the government to remove the €4 per person per night limit, so the city can charge tourists even more.
The proposal to modify the tax ordinance regulating the surcharge has been approved provisionally. It will need to get final approval in the September plenary session.
If everything goes as planned, you’ll need to pay the extra charge starting October 1. Otherwise, the tax will start applying in April 2025.
Local Organizations Against Mass Tourism in Barcelona
This might not be the best time to increase tourist taxes, as the city has been mired in international controversy as a group of anti-tourism demonstrators fired water pistols at visitors while shouting “Tourists go home” and “Barcelona is not Disneyland” a week ago.
According to the leaders of 140 local organizations and some official data, the cost of housing has increased by 68 percent since 2014.
Digital nomads are also playing a part in the housing crisis as previously reported by TravelingLifestyle.