Parliament delays tourist tax increase and parties plan new proposal for fall

The Catalan parliament has delayed implementing a higher tourist tax on hotels, camping, and other tourist accommodations to "correct" a previous decree-law, a temporary law enforced in the case of extraordinary and urgent need.

Left-wing parties, the Socialists, Esquerra Republicana, and Comuns, voted to delay the tourist tax. The new law, expected to be passed during the fall, will "offer more financial resources to the current challenges we are facing, such as the housing crisis," finance minister Alícia Romero told MPs during a parliamentary session on Wednesday morning.

The new decree-law temporarily halts setting tourist taxes of up to €15 per night in Barcelona. Other municipalities were also 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 to support Salvador Illa's election as president.

On Wednesday, these parties decided to support the government's plan to correct a previously approved decree-law that implemented the increase from May 1, after a surprise plot twist in the chamber in May.

Esquerra Republicana's spokesperson Laia Cañigueral said that their yes was "temporary" as they want to set a new tool to set the "Catalan tourism model, and that the tourist tax is not only a revenue tax."

They argue that "Catalonia is not only Barcelona, and Barcelona is not only Catalonia," which is why ERC believes that there should be two different tourist taxes outside of Barcelona, depending on the season. Something that would help deseasonalize tourism across the territory.

However, Comuns is against Esquerra's proposal as it would consider the skiing season in the Pyrenees as off-season.

"Everyone knows that what a tourist pays in terms of taxes is not what makes them decide to come or not," Comuns' spokesperson David Cid said during his statement in Parliament.

The party believes that the possibility of having a higher tourist tax would "only change the resources city councils have to invest to solve issues," such as the housing crisis.

Cid responded to the pro-independence right-wing Junts party, saying that any tourist paying €800 for a hotel room at Passeig de Gràcia boulevard, can afford to pay €8 in taxes.

Meanwhile, Junts said that the tourist tax would mainly affect locals and "low-income families" who usually travel to camping sites as a family. The group claims that all tourist accommodations will have the same tax, regardless of their category, and as city councils can establish their limit, neighboring towns will have different taxes.