The local government needs to be exceptionally careful when it comes to spending the money from the tourist tax. Més, the Majorcan nationalist party, whose leader, Biel Barcelo, is the regional minister for tourism, has said that the money should be used to help senior citizens. Now, this is an exceptionally worthy cause, but I thought that the tourist tax cash would be used to improve holiday resorts and would not be earmarked for other projects which should come out of the general Balearic budget. As I have said on numerous occasions in this space, I do not believe that tourists will have trouble paying the tax so long as it is spent wisely on projects involving tourism. Tourist tax cash to improve resorts is one thing, tourist tax cash to be spent on completely unrelated projects is another. To avoid any sort of backlash the Balearic government has to be exceptionally careful. Tourists need to be informed where the money is going to be spent because after all it is an extraordinary tax not just a normal surcharge. If I was a German or British tourist, I would not be very impressed if my hard-earned money was being spent on projects which should be paid for by the Spanish taxpayer not visiting holidaymakers. The last time the Balearic government attempted to introduce a surcharge of this sort it was withdrawn because of the backlash from tourists and the media in Britain and Germany. To avoid a repetition the government has to be careful.
Tourist tax for the right projects
07/03/2016 00:00
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5 comments
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The tax is to be imposed, still with no idea of how it will be used. Horse before cart. No doubt the unseemly scrum to get their hands on the money for almost any purpose will show up the perpetrators in their true light. By the time everyone has picked the pockets of it, and the costs of administration have been covered, we shall have the usual suspects doing very well from it, thank you, and the tourists getting nothing for their extra costs.
Don't worry,Jason,if they start to use the tourist tax for any reason other than the improvement of resorts and the environment,we can send in our most fearsome weapon,the dreaded Jeremy Kyle.
Dear Jason, They won´t have trouble paying the tax, as they won´t have an alternative not to. And I reckon most tourists will think that keeping the Balearics looking nice and tidy is all part and parcel of the cost of their holiday, and should be paid for by the Spanish government and taxpayer and not by them. So, and to avoid any sort of backlash, the Balearic government should forget the whole idea in it´s entirety. Simon
we must build more prisons for the british hooligans
Last words . The great foo man choo says you reap what you sow ( Laser Lash )