EXPLAINED: How and why Barcelona is doubling its tourist taxes
Holidaymakers in Spain's northeastern region of Catalonia will soon have to pay double as much in tourist taxes as they already do, with higher nightly rates in particular for those staying in Barcelona.
That's according to an agreement between the Catalan government and the parliamentary group Comuns, as announced on Thursday by the latter's spokesperson David Cid on Cadena Ser radio station.
The possibility of doubling the rate will mean that holidaymakers staying at 5-star and luxury hotels in the Catalan capital will pay a tourist tax of at least €7 per night rather than €3.50, while those in 4-star hotels will soon have to spend an additional €3.40.
Guests staying at tourist accommodation such as Airbnbs in Barcelona will be charged €4.50 as part of the new levy.
Passengers on board cruise ships docked at Barcelona's port for more than 24 hours will soon pay a tax of €6; and those on cruises that stay for more than 24 hours can expect tourists taxes of €4 per night.
Those staying at other accommodation, be it hostels or guesthouses or similar, will see the daily tourist tax go from €1 to €2.
It's worth noting that Barcelona city already applies its own municipal surcharge of €4 per night, and that the City Council will also have the right to double this tourist tax up to €8 per night.
So if you add the regional and city tourist taxes together, each guest at a 5-star or luxury hotel in Barcelona could pay an additional €15 per night. If this went ahead, it would in effect mean that Barcelona would almost quadruple its tourist tax in some cases.
Outside Barcelona, the doubled tourist tax will be slightly lower. Five-star and luxury hotels will charge €6 in tourist taxes per night, 4-star hotels €2.40, tourist accommodation owners €2, and other establishments €1.20.
The cruise ship tourist taxes will be the same across the whole of Catalonia, at the same rates as Barcelona.
However, all municipalities across Catalonia have now also been given the go-ahead to charge their own municipal tourist taxes, whereas up to now it was just Barcelona.
Therefore, the tourist taxes could be even higher everywhere across the northeastern region, from Tarragona to Sitges.
Why the tourist tax increase?
Cid has argued that the tax levy hike does not represent "any limit" to tourism in the context of Catalonia's record numbers of visitors, and that the measure is in line with those of other European cities such as Amsterdam or Rome.
It's expected that 25 percent of the revenue generated by the new tourist taxes will be allocated to housing access policies.
"I think that many Catalans are having a very hard time," Cid argued.
"And I think that the tourists who visit us can make a little more effort so that we have more resources, for example, to allocate them to what is today the main problem of the country - access to housing."
The agreement is set to be ratified on Thursday February 27th by Catalonia's regional minister for Economy and Finance Alícia Romero and the leader of Comuns in the Catalan Parliament, Jéssica Albiach.
As could be expected, those with business interests in the region's tourism industry are not happy with the news.
Catalonia's Confederation of Hotel and Restaurant Businesses (Confecat) has issued a statement expressing its opposition to the new tourist tax, referring to it as 'continued fiscal suffocation' and that the sector "is not willing to continue being the constant source of financing for the administrations".
They claim "this measure threatens to destroy the competitiveness of a business network that is key to economic and social development" of the region which in 2024 received 19.9 million international tourists.
For its part, the Barcelona Hotel Association has argued that "if this measure is applied, Barcelona would become the European city with the highest tourist tax in all hotel categories, above cities such as Paris and Rome (whose average hotel prices are higher than those of Barcelona)".
In anticipation of a backlash from the hotel and hospitality sector, Cid stressed that this is 'a tax that is not paid by hoteliers, but by tourists', and increasing it now makes perfect sense since Catalonia is recording 'record numbers of tourists and revenue'.
"A person who comes to the city of Barcelona and pays between €300 and €400 for a night in a hotel can easily pay €7 more per night," Cid argued.
Overtourism has been a problem in Barcelona for over a decade, whereas in other holiday hotspots in Spain the knock-on effects of mass tourism have started to be felt more recently.
Several protests took place in the Catalan capital in 2024, most headline-grabbing of all one where holidaymakers on Barcelona's Las Ramblas boulevard had water splattered on them by a small group of demonstrators wielding water pistols.
Just like in many other popular cities in Spain, the impact of tourism, international popularity and gentrification on Barcelona's housing and rental market have been notable.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Local Spain
2 days ago
- Local Spain
Inside Spain: Catalonia backs ban on foreign residents buying homes
Property For Members In this week's Inside Spain we look at how the Catalan Parliament has voted in favour of preventing temporary residents who've lived in the country for under five years from buying homes. Restrictions on foreign property ownership appear to be at the forefront of national and regional political agendas in Spain currently. Most recently, we've had Pedro Sánchez's ruling party push forward with the idea of a new 100 percent tax which would double the property price for non-residents of the EU. But there are those who want to take it one step further and restrict actual foreign residents in Spain from buying homes. The plenary session of the Catalan Parliament on Thursday supported a motion by separatist party the Republican Left (ERC) calling on the government to limit the purchase of temporary residents to "curb speculation." ERC is the party which already tried to get the Spanish Congress to do this, but the proposal was rejected. Now they're attempting to do the same but just in Catalonia, where 45 percent of 25 to 40-year-old residents are foreign born. The legal text specifies that only foreigners who have "permanent residency" - those who have officially resided in Spain for five years - should be able to purchase a property, and that they would to prove this residency period first to the region's housing department before being able to buy. The premise for this is that there has to be limits for property purchases from overseas which aren't for 'habitual and permanent residence'. The initiative received the approval of the Catalan Socialists-Units parliamentary group and ERC, Comuns and CUP, while right-wing parties Junts, PP, Vox and Aliança Catalana rejected it. A similar left-right political divide has been seen on a national level vis-à-vis the 100 percent property tax. At one point, far-right party Vox referred to such proposals as 'xenophobic'. The Catalan Parliament's green-lighted document also stipulates that a supplementary tax could be introduced on the transfer of real estate to non-EU residents, in line with what Spain's ruling Socialists have proposed, although it's unclear if this would be exactly the same. Furthermore, a "differentiated regime" could be established for legal entities from other EU states wishing to acquire a property for commercial use. The Catalan Parliament has also approved a restriction on foreign investment in real estate development if for commercial purposes. Interestingly, what was rejected was a proposal to reduce the Property Transfer Tax (ITP) on the purchase of a first home for residents. Crucially, even though the Catalan Parliament has voted in favour of this motion, it remains a declaration of intent with no immediate effect. In other words, foreigners - regardless of their nationality or residency - can continue to buy properties in Catalonia as this is not a law that's in force. What the motion and vote does require is that Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and the Catalan leader, Socialist Salvador Illa, take action to create a 'legal framework' to make these limits on foreign property ownership a reality. Whether this actually occurs will remain to be seen, subject as well to the possibility that such measures may contravene EU legislation on the free movement of capital from within and outside of the bloc. What does seem to be clear is that hardly a week goes by in Spain currently without a new proposal from a political party or a region hard hit by the housing crisis - usually those with large foreign populations as well - suggesting foreigners should be limited from buying Spanish property. As with every war of attrition, it may just be that one side caves in eventually, and that some legislation affecting foreign home ownership in Spain does pass. People doubted the cancellation of the golden visa scheme - which gave Spanish residency to non-EU nationals who bought property worth €500,000 - would ever happen. But after a year of legal rigmarole, the residency scheme for wealthy foreigners did get scrapped. See Also
Local Spain
4 days ago
- Local Spain
Why is Spain so vulnerable to cyberattacks?
Spain faces a new challenge: strengthening its online security. In recent months, there have been several major cyber attacks, including data breaches at Telefónica, the country's main telecoms company. Other major players have also been hacked: Santander Bank, the Orange phone network, Iberdrola energy company, numerous stock exchange listed companies, even Spain's Armed Forces. In fact, roughly a third of all cyberattacks in Spain are directed at public administrations. Although a cyberattack has been officially ruled out as the cause of Spain's nationwide blackout on April 28th, there are still voices claiming that there isn't enough data to completely discard that possibility. According to Francisco Valencia, CEO of security firm Secure&IT, Spain has historically fluctuated between third and fifth place globally in terms of its propensity to cyberattacks, but in 2025 it stands in second place. So why is it so vulnerable and why are criminals targeting Spain? According to data from CybersecurityNews, cyberattacks have risen by 35 percent this year in Spain, reaching more than 45,000 incidents per day. Between late February and early March, attacks increased by 750 percent compared to the same period last year, according HackManac, a company which monitors global cyber threats. During the week of March 5-11th 2025, Spain was the most targeted country in the world and Spain is also the third-most attacked country by pro-Russian hackers. According to Secure&IT's CEO, Spain has a commercial presence in all international markets and occupies a prominent position in terms of Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Its geographical location, at the westernmost point of the European continent, also reinforces its strategic value as a link between Europe and America. More importantly though he explains that "Before Brexit, the United Kingdom was the second most attacked country in the world,", due to its capacity to destabilise the EU. During this time, as well as during the start of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, Spain temporarily dropped in the rankings, but now it has become a prime target once again. At the Global Cyber Security Congress in Barcelona, they also explained that Spanish companies had undergone a rapid digital transformation, which is a key goal of the EU's Next Generation Funds. As they've done so, however, many have "failed to invest sufficiently in cybersecurity systems, making them easy targets for cybercriminals". This is made worse by the rise in ransomware attacks, which have surged by 120 percent and caused financial losses, particularly for small businesses. According to CybersecurityNews, they can lose between €2,500 and €60,000 per attack, while damage to a large company can often be more than €5.5 million. The Spanish government has not made any comment regarding the ranking, but it has warned about the growing threat of cyberattacks. At the end of April, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez did admit that "Spain is subject to more than a thousand cyberattacks on essential services and critical infrastructure each year'. The PM explained that many of these attacks don't appear in the media, but they directly affect targets such as hospitals and airports. "So far, our systems have managed to repel the most serious ones and contain the impact of the rest, but the threat, far from disappearing, is clearly growing stronger every day," he stated. Sánchez's new plan aims to boost new telecommunications and cybersecurity capabilities, both military and civilian. It will include new satellites, 5G infrastructure, artificial intelligence, quantum computing, and cloud capabilities. We want to "create a digital shield for Spain', Sánchez explained. According to Secure&IT's latest reports, cybercrime now represents a global cost of 1.5 percent of the world's GDP. In 2024 alone, cyberattacks increased by 64 percent compared to the previous year, according to data from Spanish cybersecurity company CCN-CERT. "Digital crime has it all: it's profitable, scalable, and anonymous. There are even platforms that assess the reputation of malware providers," Valencia said.
Local Spain
4 days ago
- Local Spain
Leire Díez: The latest chapter in the corruption saga affecting Spain's PM
Politics A former member of Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez's Socialist party on Wednesday denied waging a smear campaign against a police unit investigating corruption accusations targeting members of his inner circle. Leire Díez has come under scrutiny after leaked audio records surfaced of her talks with a police commander and a businessman implicated in corruption probes. In the recordings, she appears to offer judicial leniency to both in exchange for potentially compromising information on top members of the Guardia Civil police force's anti-corruption unit. This unit is investigating graft allegations levelled against Sánchez's wife, brother and his former right-hand man, prompting allegations that she may have been trying to interfere with these probes. But Díez attempted to quash the growing scandal, telling reporters on Wednesday that she was conducting research for a book and was not working on behalf of the party or Sánchez. "I am not a woman in the shadows. I have been doing investigative work for years," she said a day after she resigned from the party. She also lashed out at what she called "calculated and fabricated leaks". Tensions flared at the press conference when businessman Victor de Aldama, a central figure in one of the corruption cases troubling Sánchez's administration, unexpectedly attempted to confront Díez. "She lies and mocks everyone," he shouted. The main opposition Popular Party (PP) has called for a protest in Madrid on Sunday against the government over the affair, accusing it of "mafia practices". The PP, as well as far-left party Podemos and Catalan pro-independence party ERC, have demanded that the prime minister appear in parliament to give explanations over the case. Sánchez has dismissed the probes affecting members of his inner circle as part of a "smear campaign" carried out by the right wing to undermine his government.
