The regional government has now published the draft of its sustainable tourism tax law in the Official Bulletin, something designed to conserve the land and the landscape and to be invested in a better tourism based on quality and sustainability.
The tax will be of a purpose-oriented character and be applied to tourist accommodation, to properties that are commercialised for tourist resasons and to cruise ships.
The draft will be up for public consideration for 15 days, during which time any citizen or organisation can have their say and can present observations. The government will take these into account before approving the law. This will go before parliament with the aim of having generated the maximum consensus and social debate as possible in order that the law is adapted to the real needs of the citizenship.
The publication of the draft bill is a further step in an open process for developing the rules surrounding the new tax and is part of the public debate that the government started with the tourism sector, with social and economic bodies, with the island councils, with representatives of parliamentary groups and with society at large in order to define the tax and to establish means of bringing about a sustainable tourism model from the points of view of the environment, the economy and society.
The text of the draft has various exemptions. Apart from under-14s, who will not be liable for the tax, there will be exemptions for stays that are caused because of “force majeure” and for stays by tourist establishment staff. Also exempt will be patients and those accompanying them if they have to travel between the islands to receive medical treatment as well as visitors on subsidised social vacation programmes, such as Imserso.
A distinction is to be made between high and low season. During the latter, there will be a 50% reduction in order to promote a lengthening of the tourism season. There will also be a distinction between categories of accommodation. Tourists in higher standard accommodation will pay more. The amount will vary from a minimum of 25 cents (for hostels, refuges and pensions in low season) to a maximum of two euros (5-star hotels and tourist apartments with four keys or four key superior in the high season). Cruise-ship passengers will have to pay one euro in high season and 50 cents in low season.
As an example, a family of two adults and two children under the age of 14 which stays in a 3-star hotel for eight nights (an average stay) during high season will pay a total 16 euros. This, based on average tourist spend, will represent 0.9% of total holiday cost. A family with a similar make-up in a 4-star hotel will pay 25 euros, or 1.4% of total cost.
The draft foresees the creation of a Commission for the Promotion of Sustainable Tourism, made up of representatives from government institutions, business and elsewhere, that will evaluate projects to be invested in by revenue raised by the tax. These will be for the protection and conservation of the environment, for the improvement of the tourism sector oriented towards following a sustainable model, to the recuperation of historical and cultural patrimony, to projects of research and innovation related to tourism and to economic diversification, and to improve training and quality of jobs in the tourism sector.
The government will continue speaking with the tourism sector and other bodies in order to improve the text of the draft. Once observations have been made, over the following weeks the cabinet will approve the draft before sending it to the parliament.
9 comments
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Absolutely disgusting greedy spanish
As long as the money IS used to safegard the tourism sector and for NO other use then it can only be a good thing but i fear that given those in the goverment who think that we tourists as cash cows will ues it for what ever they think they can get away with so we will have to wait and see
So it's offical now. The tax is to maintain sustainable tourism. I doubt that. The money is needed to pay bank interest of €415,4 million (which will take 7 years of tax), as part of our national debt of €2,407 million euros. And of course by the next 7 years of social reforms and anti-austerity another tax will be needed to pay the bank interest for that.!
Ian, what makes you think they are going to come, with alternatives like Benidorm, Andalucia and the Canary Islands welcoming them with open arms ( and no tax ) ?
I've been a regular visitor to pto Alcudia since 1997. I lived and worked in Alcudia in 2001. In 225 days my family and I will return to Alcudia for our summer holiday. Sadly this will be our last. I refuse to pay this Eco/Tourist tax. Well done. You have just killed tourism.
Frankly the battle to stop the tax is lost. The next thing to fret over is method of collection. No problem in hotels. Looks like citizens will be expected to cycle round all the villas in their domain and extract cash from confused holiday makers. As we've now established that no-one should work without a contract-will these tax collectors be Civil Servants with all the cost that entails? Who will ensure that everyone pays and the money paid over? The only way to pay is at point of entry . Airport jobs maybe?
Frankly the battle to stop the tax is lost. The next thing to fret over is method of collection. No problem in hotels. Looks like citizens will be expected to cycle round all the villas in their domain and extract cash from confused holiday makers. As we've now established that no-one should work without a contract-will these tax collectors be Civil Servants with all the cost that entails? Who will ensure that everyone pays and the money paid over? The only way to pay is at point of entry . Airport jobs maybe?
Spanish pensioners coming to Mallorca on Imserso holidays are exempt from the tourist tax but British and German pensioners coming on holiday are not. Thus must contravene some EU rules.
Once someone is blinded by dogma, nothing will deflect them. Truth or logic is wasted on them. They don't even know for which uses this tax will be collected! How can you possibly raise a tax without knowing that? It's going to be an unmitigated disaster with high costs and is wide open to corruption. The only pleasure will be the eventual demise of the idiots running it, however there will be no pleasure watching it afflict the income of many hard-working local people.