Tourist Tax for Valencian Region

Tourist Tax for Valencian Region - Toni Pérez Benidorm´s Mayor says "no and never"

Tourist Tax for Valencian Region - Updates - 11th November 2024 The so called "tourist tax" which would have applied to anyone staying in our region (Whether of foreign origin or Spanish) was officially voted out by the regional government in Valencia on Friday. This means that we will not be joining the regions of Baleares or Cataluña in having such a charge. The original plan was that the tax was to be voluntary, with individual town halls choosing to apply it or not....It was never, not ever going to apply to Benidorm anyway, despite what the UK tabloids kept claiming!

August 14th 2023 The Mayor of Benidorm, Toni Pérez, recently met with the Valencian government secretary of tourism, innovation, industry and business Nuria Montes.

The visit of the minister to Benidorm was used to outline what she described as possibly the best ever year for tourism, especially for Benidorm and the Costa Blanca in general.

She also declared that the supposed "tourist tax" which was supposed to start at the end of this year would be totally scrapped. 

25th November 2022 - The vote on the introduction of a tourist tax for our region, has been definitively approved on Thursday, after 7 years of debate, by the Valencian government.

This will see a fee charged per night, at a rate depending on the type and standard of accommodation. Two things are important to know...Firstly that the scheme comes into operation in 2024, and not next year...Secondly that the charge is VOLUNTARY.....Meaning that town halls can choose to apply it or not. The town hall of Benidorm for example has stated that it WON'T be applied on accommodation in the town.

At the moment in Spain, tourist tax is only charged in two autonomous communities: the Balearic Islands and Catalonia

This is the list of tourist fares by regions in 2022

Barcelona: From €1.4 to €3

Girona: From 0,5€ to 2,25€

Ibiza: From €2 to €4

Menorca: From €2 to €4

Palma de Mallorca: From €2 to €4

Tarragon: From 0,5€ to 2,25€

Tourist Tax for Valencian Region 21st July 2022 - There is still lots of controversy over the proposed "tourist tax" which is due to be imposed on overnight stays in our region from next year. The tax would impose a small charge which would range from 50 cents a night for a cheap hostal, up to 2€ for a more exclusive hotel.  A large meeting was held in Valencia yesterday, driven by the university of Alicante, who had concluded that the new tax would be counterproductive and unjust, damaging the image of destinations, while raising at the most 53.6 million euros, 17 million of which would be corresponding to stays in Benidorm. The Valencian government has repeatedly said that the tax would be voluntary, with individual town halls free to apply it or not...Benidorm has repeatedly said that the town would not be charging it.

Tourist Tax Valencian Region April 12th 2022 - The proposal to implement a nightly tax charge on staying in accommodation was legally registered in the Valencian parliament yesterday 11th April. (The so-called tourist tax.) This means that it is due to be approved by the end of this year, with implementation from 2024. It is stated that the implementation of the tax OR NOT, will be entirely down to individual town halls to decide. The town hall of Benidorm for example has already said that the tax WILL NOT be applied here (Despite what certain tabloid newspapers keep trying to claim). there are different levels of tax according to type and quality of accommodation, with levels between 50 cents for campsites, hostels, hostels and houses or rural hotels of one, two or three stars., to 2 euros a night for overnight stays in spaces with more than four stars.

There are several exemptions where people would not have to pay such as cruise travellers who start or finish their travel in the Valencian Community will not be obliged to pay this fee.  There are proposal of nine other exemptions, among which the stays of children under 16 or people with a disability greater than 66%, those forced by health, sports competitions or congresses of public universities and those that are held in youth hostels stand out.

December 2021 - Tourist Tax Valencian Region - An agreement was reached yesterday (21st December 2021) between the three main political parties that make up the Valencian government on the introduction of the so called "tourist tax" in our region. The three parties of PSPV, Compromís y Unides Podem have, after much argument, decided to join other regions such as the Balearic Islands and Cataluña, in charging a small amount per person per night, which is dependent on the category of the accommodation that the tourist is staying in. The tax could range between 0.5 and 2 euros per night and excludes the Imserso and health stays

Criticism has not been slow in coming, especially from towns like Benidorm (see below) The mayors of Benidorm, Alicante and Torrevieja, are all opposed to the implementation.  Given the announcement of the Valencian government that this new tax will have municipal and voluntary character, Toni Pérez has advanced that "Benidorm will not apply it".

There are few details available yet, just that the charging of the tax has been agreed between the three parties.

The Generalitat will establish a common regulatory framework, but the application of the tax, whose amount could reach up to two euros per night, will be the power of the municipalities. Therefore, it will be the municipalities who decide if visitors are forced to pay this additional tax.

The internal debate on this issue has been dragging on since 2017 between the PSPV, Compromís and Unides Podem, however, they are committed to putting a proposal on the table before March 2022 to then start the parliamentary journey, for the moment, the date on which it will be activated is up in the air, but it should not be before 2023. Nor has it been defined exactly what the proceeds will go to.

Before the end of March 2022a proposal for a law creating the Valencian Tourist Stay Tax will be drafted. The document that will serve as a starting point will be the one drafted as an amendment to the budgets by Compromís and Unides Podem, which includes rates of between 0.5 and 2 euros per night depending on the type of accommodation and also establishes certain exemptions, such as, for example, to imserso tourism or stays linked to health.

Toni Pérez reaffirms himself in the "no and never" at the tourist rate after the agreement announced by the three-party council  The mayor insists that "it's not a rate, it's a tax" that "penalizes the tourist activity", that "is contrary to the hospitality model of the Valencian Community" and that "obeys an ideological tick"

Tourist Tax for Valencian Region

The mayor of Benidorm, Toni Perez, has reaffirmed in his refusal to the implantation of the tourist rate in the Community after the agreement to implant it announced today by the political forces that make up the government of the Valencian Generalitat: PSPV, Commitment and United Podem. Toni Perez has stated that “the Benidorm government, in tune with sector-maintained, has always defended the ‘no and never’ at the tourist rate,” which “only seeks to penalize this activity, the same since the pandemic erupted missed and much support of the three-party council that now intends to put new shortcuts to its recovery.”

The mayor has incited that “the tourist rate only obeys a permanent ideological ‘tic’ of the Council government partners” which, unlike the regional secretary of Tourism, Francesc Colomer, are “unable to see and understand that the turism is the activity that best redistributes wealth that "has a high social commitment" and that "doesn't get dislocated".

Toni Pérez has claimed that the agreement announced today is "an imposition of those who deeply hate tourism and democracy of the holidays that imposes the model of sun and beach"; while "generates more uncertainty to a sector that has always been a tractor and locomotora, offering great yields to the GDP of the Valencian Community."

In addition, he has clarified that "contrary to what is being claimed is not a rate, it is a tax" which, in addition, "to a good measure, they will have to assume the Valencians themselves, who are one of the main clients of the tourist offer of the Community Valencian."

Toni Pérez has reminded that "the sector that provides the service already pays taxes for its activity, just like the tourist, including the VAT", so "it results disproportionate, unfair and petty to add now to that activity a new tax".  Similarly, he has emphasized that "the implantation of the tourist rate is against the model of the Valencian Community, to the same model that is hidden in a law that talks about a hospitality that has been preaching and practicing the sector for decades." “We do not understand that forcing a visitor to pay a fee is the best letter of presentation or example of hospitality that can be given,” he added.

Sustainable, responsible and quality tourism is practiced day to day and for decades in this Community in destinations such as Benidorm, and that little or nothing has to do with penalizing the sector and activity or with implanting a tax that does not solve nothing," he pointed out.

Finally, he has urged the government to preside over the socialist Ximo Puig "to stop vericuetos and invent new taxes to divert the attention of what is truly important, his inability to develop social policies and to help families and the productive tissue and more in such complex moments like the current ones."

In similar terms, the deputy mayor of Alicante, Mari Carmen Sánchez (Cs), expressed herself: "If Alicante depends on us, it will not have a tourist tax," he said. He also emphasized that it seems a lie that it is intended to approve the tourist tax now, in the middle of a pandemic, and pointed out that it is a tax that "leaves us at a clear competitive disadvantage with respect to other destinations with similar characteristics and offers."

The mayor of Torrevieja, Eduardo Dolón (PP), stressed that the tripartite is "far from the reality of our tourism sector", and added that from the Botànic "they make clear what their wishes are for this coming year, as always, thinking about theirs: more taxes and less aid to the citizens of the Community". Therefore, it will not enter into force in your city either.

Please note the above information has been translated from Spanish to English, read the original article HERE

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