Catalonia to increase tourist tax to maximum of €15 per night

The Catalan government and left-wing Comuns will sign a deal on Thursday that will allow Catalonia to double the tourist tax.

Part of the revenue generated from the increased tax will be allocated to housing policies, as reported by Catalan radio station Cadena Ser and confirmed by the Catalan News Agency (ACN).

Under the agreement, the tourist tax in Barcelona could reach a maximum of €15 per person per night, while the rest of Catalonia will be able to increase the tax if they introduce a surcharge that was previously only applicable in the Catalan capital.

The increase in the tourist tax was one of Comuns' demands for supporting Salvador Illa's election as president. Illa's governing Socialists had committed to reviewing the tax and increasing it, although concrete details had not yet been finalized.

The agreement is part of the new tax measures that will be announced and signed on Thursday by Jéssica Albiach, the Comuns leader in Parliament, and Alícia Romero, the Minister of Economy.

"It does not impose any limit on tourism"

Comuns parliamentary spokesperson, David Cid, said doubling the tourist tax was a proportionate and fair measure.

"A person who comes to Catalonia paying €400 or €500 for a night in a hotel can pay €7 more," he told Cadena Ser.

"We have a record number of tourists, and the new figures we are talking about for the tax do not impose any limits" on tourism or the arrival of visitors.

Cid argued that similar measures "are being proposed across Europe."

"This is the trend at the European level," he stated.

The Comuns spokesperson said it was right that the part of the tax "should be allocated to housing policies."

"Tourists who visit us can make a small effort to help with the main problem we have," he said.

Tourist tax increases

The tourist tax in Barcelona increased from €3.25 to €4 per night in October 2024. 

The Catalan government agreed in November to increase the legal cap on the tourist tax in Barcelona to €8 per night.

Hotel sector condemns "fiscal asphyxiation"

The hotel sector in Barcelona issued a statement on Thursday strongly opposing the Catalan government's decision to increase the tourist tax, highlighting the "continuous fiscal asphyxiation" on the sector.

The Barcelona Hotel Association warned the measure could harm competitiveness, particularly for key areas like business tourism.

According to the association, Barcelona is already in the top five European cities with the highest tourist tax, and would become number one if the tax was doubled, ahead of Paris and Rome.

The hotel sector contributes around €120 million annually from this tax, the statement said.

The association aslo demanded that the Tourism Promotion Fund, which is funded by the tourist tax, be used transparently and primarily to improve tourism infrastructure in Catalonia.

Barcelona to 'thoughtfully' increase tax

Barcelona mayor Jaume Collboni announced on Thursday, hours after the deal was made public, that the Catalan capital would increase the tax.

"We'll plan the possibility of increasing the tourist tax in Barcelona with a thoughtful but reasonable raise based on where we will invest the money received from the tourist tax," he told journalists.

He did not specify when this increase could take place but said that it should be a debate to have when preparing next year's spending plan, which will need to be agreed on with other political forces.