|
Barcelona says it's at capacity, with city council officials voting to raise its tourist tax for the second time this year in an attempt to curb visitor numbers
Tom Anstey | Planet Attractions | 04 Jul 2024
Barcelona is attempting to lower its tourism levels, with around 32 million people visiting the city each year Credit: Canva
Barcelona says it has reached its tourism limit, with the Spanish city voting to introduce a new tourist tax alongside existing measures to try and curb soaring visitor numbers.
The city recently increased its tourism tax from €2.75 per night to €3.25 per night on April 1. But city council officials have decided the rise isn’t high enough with a vote to raise the fee to €4 per night starting in October. In addition to this fee, visitors will also pay €3.50 regional tourist tax, meaning a week’s stay in the city will come with a total tax of €52.50 (US$56.60, £44.40) on top of existing accommodation fees.
Other methods of curbing tourism in Barcelona include an announcement that will see all licences for holiday rentals revoked in November 2028. The move would affect around 10,000 short-let apartments, which will no longer be bookable for tourists after that date, effectively cutting off rental platforms such as Booking.com and Airbnb from the city.
The city is also expected to clamp down on construction of hotels, a rule enforced between 2015 and 2023 that severely limited construction of new developments.
According to city officials, the increased tax will help to increase “quality tourism”, rather than high visitor numbers - currently 32 million people a year. The tax increase is also expected to raise around €115m (US$124m, £97.3m) a year, with the proceeds going towards improvements to city infrastructure.
“The economic data for tourism in 2019 is already increasing, not in the number of tourists, but in the amount of income from tourism in Barcelona,” said Barclelona’s deputy mayor, Jaume Collboni.
“It was the objective sought: to contain the number of tourists and increase tourist income because our model is no longer mass tourism but quality tourism, which adds value to the city.”
The tourism surge isn’t unique to Barcelona alone, with Spain experiencing a huge surge in visitor numbers annually. According to Deloitte, the country is set to welcome 110 million annual visitors by 2040, which would see it overtake France as the world’s most visited tourist destination. Last year, Spain saw 84 million tourist arrivals. Across the country and in locations such as the Balearic Islands and the Canary Islands, protests have been staged such is the level of tourist numbers in certain areas.
Tourism
|
|
Everything you need to know about IAAPA Expo Europe 2024
|
