With the feeling that so much Barcelona as the set of Catalonia They are approaching their tourist reception limit and the certainty that citizen unrest due to the negative impacts of the activity They are going further, the Administrations are exploring the increase in taxation of the sector as one of the ways to regulate and limit it. Now, the experts consulted by this newspaper see it as an insufficient step and defend other measures as more appropriate.
Both the Barcelona City Council like the Generalitat of Catalonia In recent weeks, they have raised the need to increase taxes on tourism and the creation of new taxes. This was confirmed in a recent interview by the General Director of Tourism of the Generalitat, Cristina Lage. After defining tourists as “temporary residents”, Lagé advocates intensifying the payment of taxes by this group.
Given this philosophy, the director points out that the Catalan Executive is studying establishing a tax for visitors who arrive by coach, in addition to increasing the rates for stays in hotel accommodation or for cruise passengers who dock at the port by boat. “The tourist has rights and obligations and has to collaborate so that society works,” he comments. Lage.
Faced with this announcement, experts show their opposition to the measure, arguing that the creation of new taxes that record activity does not have a direct effect on reducing the volume of tourists and also criticizes that the strategies are only intended to transfer tourist places. the Housing for Tourist Use (VUT) to the hotels.
This debate about the expansion of tourism and its economic, social and urban impact has also reached the political sphere. In fact, the price of housing and the regulation of tourist activity have been on the daily agenda since the return to the political course after the summer holidays. Cristina Lagé herself states that the Government It is carrying out policies to limit the arrival of tourists and gives as an example that in the high season, between June and August, the number of visitors only grew by 0.3%. Lagé speaks of a reorganization of activity in a sector that contributes 15% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Catalonia and that aspires to obtain quality jobs.
At the municipal level, the PSCwhich governs Barcelona City Council, has reached an agreement with the group of Barcelona en Comú to try to regulate seasonal rentals in the city, a modality that is outside the price caps established by law. The agreement is part of the negotiations in order to approve next year’s fiscal ordinances and municipal budgets.
The initiative points the way to a future Housing Pact
The measure involves declaring all the apartments in the city as permanent housing and subsequently establishing the exceptions. The initiative is part of a set of actions within the future Pact for Housingwhich would have to prioritize increasing the stock of protected rental apartments and those intended for vulnerable groups.
New taxation in Barcelona
Within the framework of the budgets of the Catalan capital for the year 2025, the mayor of the city, Jaume Collbonihas presented the tax ordinances, which contemplate an increase in taxes on the hotel sector in Barcelona, raising the IBI average from the current 1% to 1.08%. In addition to the IBI for luxury hotels, the proposal also plans to increase taxes on special properties, among which are cruise terminals, port infrastructure and toll tunnels. In this case, the average rate would go from the current 0.80% to 1.30% three years from now.
“Destinations are no longer able to control their tourist flow. Travel has gone from being a luxury to almost a basic necessity”
Asked about the effectiveness of these movements, the director of the Future Scenarios of Retail, Tourism and Services Chair at the UPF Barcelona School of Management (UPF-BSM)Josep Francesc Vallsremembers that we are at a time when “destinations are no longer able to control their tourist flow, since trips have gone from being a luxury to almost a basic necessity that is carried out on a regular basis.”
Faced with a scenario of extraordinary saturation, the recipe defended Valls refers to controlling the phenomenon. “It is not about slowing down or reducing its size, but about organizing the growth that we can assume.” The lack of control recognized in the management of tourist homes ends up affecting the majority of the population. To stop the situation, the university professor defends “rigorous control of the registry of tourist homes.”
Closed shops with more tourism
Josep Francesc Valls advocates for rigorous control of the registry of tourist homes
Valls considers that the moderate increase in tourist taxes does not end up having any effect, since “a tourist is indifferent to paying 150 or 160 euros for one night. That is, the increase in price does not drive away the visitor.” For this reason, he is in favor of articulating strict regulations that are complied with. “We have to be able to monitor and supervise tourism activity, setting achievable growth objectives and making the business profitable.” The expert questions the paradox of traditional businesses closing in Barcelona, while at the same time, tourist density does not stop growing.
For its part, the Barris Assembly pel Decreixement Turístic (ABDT) criticizes the announcements of Barcelona City Council and the Government. He emphasizes that “public money is allocated to make work even easier for the tourism industry.” In relation to the attempt to reduce accommodation capacity in the city, he says that the measures propose moving tourist places from HUTs to hotels. The ABDT regrets that the entity in charge of managing the investments is the public-private consortium Turisme de Barcelonaa, who “has proven to use money to benefit the industry.”
Agents and experts in the sector urge to find a new tourism governance, in which planning, clear regulations with strict criteria and monitoring of compliance are prioritized. Furthermore, there is a certain consensus that taxes only serve to collect more, but do not solve the problem. The same sources recall that the scenario after the Covid-19 pandemic has only allowed the discovery of domestic demand, but no steps forward have been taken in basic aspects such as planning, diagnosing, managing, regulating and controlling.
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