Barcelona to increase tourist tax for cruise passengers in transit

The Barcelona City Council has given initial approval to a progressive increase in the tourist tax for cruise passengers not spending a night in the city.

Those spending less than 12 hours in the city will see fees raised from the current €5 to the maximum of €24 recently established by Catalan law, with the change being progressively implemented through 2030.

The plenary session also gave final approval to freeze the surcharge for hostels at €4.

The Deputy Mayor for Economy, Jordi Valls, defended freezing the surcharge for hostels, arguing that their situation is "different from that of other tourist establishments."

He advocated for a "progressive, four-year" rollout of the increase in tourist taxes to provide "clarity and certainty regarding the city council's fiscal decisions."

He highlighted that this represents "the most significant tax increase for cruise ships in the entire Mediterranean, surpassing those in Amsterdam, Santorini, or other ports."

He asserted that, in a context where the city "has reached the limit of its tourism capacity," the sector needs to "take greater responsibility for municipal finances."

Meanwhile, the plenary session rejected a proposal to raise the differentiated property tax (IBI) paid by leisure and hospitality establishments with the highest cadastral values.