Following community-led backlash over an influx of tourists; housing costs, and related issues a big change is coming to the tourist tax in Barcelona for those not staying a while.
The Lowdown
According to the mayor Jaume Collboni , the cruise ship passenger tax is applied to those stopping over rather than staying a while. The stopover rate is about $7.61 but it is not clear how much it will be raised for those who are required to pay it.
“We are going to propose..substantially increasing the tax for stopover cruise passengers,” he told El Pais newspaper.
“In the case of stopover cruise passengers (less than 12 hours) there is intensive use of public space without any benefit for the city and a feeling of occupation and saturation. We want to have tourism that is respectful of the destination.”