It is inevitable that there will be an increase in the tourist tax next year. But it has yet to be decided what the increase will be and whether it will be across the board or be targeted at specific tourist profiles.
These decisions will depend on Balearic parliament approval of the government's spending ceiling for the 2018 budget. The cabinet is due to set this ceiling next week and wants parliament's approval as soon as possible. Parliament isn't due to reconvene until next month.
An option said to be under consideration is for an increase of the lowest hotel rate* (currently one euro per night for one, two and three-star accommodation). This would apparently act as a "disincentive" for a tourist profile deemed to have low spending power. An alternative option is an increase of the highest rate. This might mean a rise from two to three euros for four-star superior and five-star accommodation.
Other changes will be to the tax for cruise ship passengers and to the period when the 50% discount applies. Both of these have previously been flagged up. At present, the tax only comes into effect if cruise ships are in port for twelve hours or more. In future, there won't be a minimum time, so the tax will apply to all ships. The current rate for cruise ships is one euro.
Between November and April there is a 50% reduction in the tax. It seems certain that this discount will no longer apply to April; it may also be eliminated for March as well.
Exemptions, such as there being no tax for under-16s, are unlikely to be changed. Nothing, as yet, is being said about the current 50% cut in the tax after eight nights.
The government is looking at increasing its spending by 200 million euros next year. Only part of this would come from tourist tax revenue. The rest will be as a consequence of general economic improvement. The government's policy is for "expansive budgets" but this is inhibited by national government limitations. This is why the tourist tax is looked upon as an additional source of revenue and why it is therefore also a general tax. Although there are specific purposes for spending tourist tax revenue, the government has admitted that it is a general tax. Initially, it said that it wasn't.
The politics of the government's "pact" do have a role to play. Podemos made clear some while ago that an increase in the tourist tax would be a requirement for it giving its approval to the 2018 budget.
An alternative source of additional revenue - a tax on hire cars - has been ruled out. The government has concluded that this wouldn't have any effect in reducing the number of hire cars.
* There is a lower rate still: one of fifty cents that applies to the likes of hostels.
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There was an interesting article in the magazine "The Week" about Mallorca being anti tourist - they had a photo of one of the walls with graffiti saying "Tourists Out" etc. Small island mentality. Lefties that are so jealous of business. Wake up though - business is what employs the human beings on this island and subsequently puts food on the tables of these families.
We paid just under €1 per person per night for 7 nights only when we stayed on the Spanish Mainland a couple of years ago. After the 7th night there was no charge. I'm getting the feeling that the Government of Mallorca only want the rich people to visit their Island. All this propaganda re strikes, rises in the tax, demonstrations against us tourists etc is not going to lure us tourists for much longer.
What tourists do they think will be coming after the apartments fiasco, airport delays, strikes, anti-tourist protests and a general abuse of visitors to the island?
The island can only survive so much. It's not tempting people to visit.
If they have any tourist left to tax !!!
You won't need to worry about taxing cars because the increase in tourist tax is the final nail in Majorca's coffin,you don't even pretend now that it's anything other than milking tourists for every last cent you can get out of them while are the same time tourists are being blamed for just about every problem on Majorca add to that the anti-tourist protests and graffiti,huge airport queues and proposed airport strikes and now the lowest rare ever for the pound against the euro will see the death-knell of Majorca. Invest in Donkeys,you are going to need them and when mass unemployment arrives on Majorca,remember that you brought it upon yourselves.
" HEAR IT NOT " BALEAR "--TIS THE BELL THAT SUMMONS THE TO HELL !!! " A Tourist death knell. The pound euro is almost at an even rate. Continue with the malaise and chaos , and your goose will be burnt to death. More bankruptcy, more resultant unemployment for Mallorca.