The Generalitat agrees that Barcelona can double the tourist tax from 4 to 8 euros

The Generalitat has agreed with Barcelona City Council to increase the tourist tax threshold so that the City Council can charge visitors up to 8 euros per night. This was announced by Mayor Jaume Collboni at the end of the mixed commission in which the Minister of the Presidency, Albert Dalmau, participated on behalf of the Government, and in which the investments for the promised construction of 1,700 homes or for the expansion of L4 of the metro.

Regarding the tourist tax, whose increase was proposed by ERC in Barcelona, ​​the Government has committed to promoting the necessary legal and regulatory changes so that the municipal surcharge that Barcelona collects for overnight stays in the city can go from 4 to 8 euros maximum. As explained by the Minister of the Presidency, the desire is to incorporate it into the law accompanying the budgets, which must in turn be validated in the Parliament.

In terms of housing, the Government will contribute 110 million euros to build 1,788 homes in Barcelona in the coming years. On the one hand, it has committed to contributing 88 million so that the Institut Català del Sòl (Incasòl) can build 637 on eleven plots of land donated by the City Council. On the other hand, it will also co-finance 22 million euros of the construction of 1,151 affordable homes by IMHAB in the period 2025-2027.

In addition, the Generalitat has also announced that it will buy the four properties owned by the Hospital Clínic of Barcelona that were deserted at auction. Both the Generalitat and the City Council have also recognized the need to regulate seasonal rentals and protect the elimination of tourist apartments in the Catalan capital in 2028.

Likewise, among other agreements reached in the commission are the financing of the expansion of metro L4, between the La Pau and Sagrera stops, or the new expansion works of the Vall d’Hebron Hospital.