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ARCHIVED - Malaga, Seville and Granada want to introduce tourist tax by next year
Several popular holiday cities in Andalusia want to follow in Barcelona’s steps and charge up to 2 euros more per night to stay in hotels and Airbnbs
The mayor of the city of Granada, Francisco Cuenca, has indicated that he is willing to join Seville and Malaga in their calls to apply a tourist tax in the city.
With this latest addition of a major tourist centre in Andalusia to implement a tourist tax, the region’s cities come one step closer to adding an extra euro or so onto the nightly price of hotel accommodation, and they are due to enter talks with the relevant authorities to create the legal framework for doing so.
Seville has repeatedly stated that it is interested in adding an extra charge of between 50 cents and 2 euros per night for people who stay in hotels, hostels and tourist apartments like Airbnbs in the city, but has been rebuffed by the Junta de Andalucía.
Up until now, authorities at the regional level have pushed back against implementing a tourist tax in Andalusia, as already exists in Barcelona and the Balearic Islands, on the grounds that it would discourage tourists from coming to visit Spain’s south coast.
However, Mayor Cuenca believes that, at least in Granada, a tourist tax will actually contribute to the “development” of the tourism sector and also, in general terms, to the economy of the city itself.
He explained that when a tourist goes to Barcelona and “has to pay one or two euros per night”, this money is used to promote the city “in Korea or Japan”, helping to bring tourists from there to Spain, and thus give a boost to the local area.
In addition, he continued, the money earned by this tax can contribute to the “maintenance” and “signage” of the city.
He also insisted that it’s unlikely any traveller would stop visiting the city just because they have to pay a small surcharge on accommodation.
While no official permission has been granted yet, Granada is already analysing which areas and services could benefit from funds collected by the tourist tax.
As well as Malaga and Seville, the other area of Spain that is considering bringing in a similar measure is the Valencian Community, which wants to introduce a tourist tax in popular holiday hotspots in Alicante such as Benidorm and Torrevieja.
Image: Archive
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