Spain hikes tourist fees

Barcelona visitors are now paying sharply higher nightly tourist taxes after Catalonia doubled the regional levy in the city from April 1. (ajuntament.barcelona.cat) The new law took effect at the start of Holy Week, and Barcelona also raised its own city surcharge from 4 euros to 5 euros a night. A guest in a five-star hotel now pays 12 euros a night in tourist tax, up from 7.50 euros before the change. (ajuntament.barcelona.cat) Cruise passengers are included too. Visitors stopping in Barcelona for more than 12 hours now pay 9 euros, up from 6 euros, while those staying less than 12 hours pay 11 euros, up from 7 euros. (ajuntament.barcelona.cat) Barcelona’s city government had already approved a broader 2025 tax package in December that raised tourism-related charges and increased costs for tourist coaches using busy parts of the city. The council said the coach permit and operating fees are expected to lift average daily charges to about 80 euros from 20 euros. (barcelona.cat) The fee increases land after a year of visible anti-tourism protests in Barcelona. On July 6, 2024, demonstrators in Barceloneta sprayed visitors with water guns, blocked hotel entrances and marched behind banners calling on officials to “decrease tourists now,” with local media putting the crowd at about 3,000 people. (cnbc.com) Housing has been central to that backlash. Mayor Jaume Collboni said in June 2024 that rents in Barcelona had risen 68 percent in the past decade, and he announced a plan to remove 10,101 licensed tourist apartments by November 2028. (cnbc.com; forbes.com) Spain is tightening tourism rules while demand is still rising. The National Statistics Institute said the country received a record 93.8 million international tourists in 2024, and the central government said visitor spending topped 126 billion euros. (ine.es; lamoncloa.gob.es) In the Balearic Islands, the pressure looks similar. A 2024 regional survey of 2,008 residents found that only 42 percent said they were satisfied with tourism, while 38.8 percent said they were not, and the fieldwork was carried out in October 2024 across Mallorca, Menorca, Ibiza and Formentera. (caib.es) Barcelona’s own numbers show the politics are not one-sided. A 2023 city survey found 70.9 percent of residents said tourism benefits the city, even as 23 percent said it harms the city and that share rose to 28.2 percent in tourist-heavy neighborhoods. (barcelona.cat) Across Europe, officials are making similar moves. An European Union tourism platform summary published in February 2025 pointed to higher tourist taxes in Amsterdam and Venice, daily visitor limits at the Acropolis in Athens, and cruise ship bans in Venice and Dubrovnik. (transition-pathways.europa.eu) Barcelona’s next scheduled increase is already on the books. The city says its local surcharge will rise by 1 euro a year until 2029, when it reaches 8 euros a night. (ajuntament.barcelona.cat)