Holidaymakers in Balearics will need to budget up to £70 in tourist taxes for fortnight break following hikes
Cruise passengers could pay triple as the current tax to dock in the popular Spanish islands in summer
JimMin
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Holidaymakers headed for Ibiza, Mallorca and Menorca this summer face increased tourist taxes and a levy on hire cars as the government moves to control tourism.
The Balearic Islands government proposed new “tourism containment measures” to regulate rental accommodation on Friday (7 March).
Under the plans, Sustainable Tourism Tax (ITS) is set to rise from €4 (£3.36) to a maximum of €6 (£5) per person, per night in high season.
The levy will apply at four different rates between March and December, with January and February exempt from the charge.
An increase from 66 per cent to 200 per cent will depend on the category of the property during June, July and August.
The lowest accommodation rate increases from €1 (84p) to €2.5 (£2.10) per night in the summer months.
This increase could mean that couples planning a fortnight getaway to Mallorca, Ibiza, or Menorca during the peak months will need to budget an extra €70 (£59), bringing the total to €84 (£70.43).
Cruise ship passengers docking in the Balearics will pay €6 (£5) per night – triple the previous price of just €2 (£1.68).
Tourists may also have to pay more for hire cars, with a new fee being considered based on emissions and the time spent on the islands ranging from €30 (£25) to €80 (£67).
The government has also proposed the banning of new tourist accommodations in residential apartment buildings.
Booking sites will be required to log the registration number of rental accommodations before promoting them to tourists, with fines for advertising unlicensed properties on holiday rental platforms rising to €500,000 (£420,000).
The Balearic government will now negotiate the proposals for approval in parliament.
It said that the set of measures is “aimed at managing and ensuring the sustainability of tourism in the Autonomous Community”.
The proposals come following a wave of overtourism protests across Spain last summer.
In October, a Mallorcan political party announced plans to “degrow” tourism on the Balearic Islands with a 40 per cent cut on tourist accommodation.
Més per Majorca proposed strict new measures to the Balearic government to significantly reduce tourist numbers on the popular set of Spanish islands.
In a “regressive policy”, the proposal to parliament outlined a 40 per cent reduction in tourist housing alongside an annual cap on the number of holidaymakers permitted to visit the islands.
The group said that the weight of tourism on the economy is “excessive” and insisted that tourist numbers have exceeded capacity.
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