Barcelona doubles tourism tax to one of highest in Europe to fund housing

The move is part of efforts to curb visitor numbers and help finance affordable housing. Read more at straitstimes.com.

MADRID, Feb 25 (Reuters) - Tourists in Barcelona could be taxed as much as €15 (S$22.35) a night after the city raised its tourism fee to one of the highest in Europe as part of efforts to curb visitor numbers and help finance affordable housing.

The regional parliament of Catalonia on Feb 25 approved a law to double the tax for hotel guests in Barcelona from April to a maximum of between €10 and €15 per night, up from a current €5 to €7.5, depending on the hotel category.

A two-night stay for a couple at a four-star hotel, the category of nearly half of all hotels in the city, could now cost an extra €45.60, as the local authority can charge up to €11.4 per night per person.

Guests at five-star hotels could be charged up to €15 a night and cruise passengers will continue to pay around €6.

Authorities in Catalonia are grappling with how to address increasingly vocal protests from residents about excessive numbers of tourists they say are pushing up housing prices by driving a rise in short-term holiday lets.

A quarter of the revenue raised will help address the city’s housing crisis, according to the law’s text.