Brits visiting Mallorca and Ibiza in 2018 may have to pay DOUBLE this year’s tourist tax – up to €4 a day
If approved by the Government of the Balearic Islands, the highest rate will go from €2 to €4 a night and the cheapest from ¢50 to €1
VISITORS to Mallorca and Ibiza in 2018 face paying double as much for the nightly tourist tax as opposed to the rate this year when it was first introduced.
If approved by officials, the highest rate will go from €2 to €4 a night and the cheapest from ¢50 to €1.
The Government of the Balearic Islands has yet to make the final decision but will do so later this week.
The exact amount depends on whether it is the high or low season and the category of accommodation the holidaymaker is staying in, ranging from a bed and breakfast to a five-star luxury hotel.
Those who stay in the low season pay 50 per cent of the high season fee - the high season is currently May to October.
At the moment, a holidaymaker staying in a three-star hotel pays €1 a day which would double to two in the high season.
The Balearic Government will discuss whether to increase the rate just in the high season and leave the low season as it is or double both.
Also under debate will be whether or not to add another couple of months to the high season, bringing in more revenue for the Government.
For the first time, passengers on board cruise ships who spend LESS than 12 hours in the ports of the islands will no longer be exempt from the payment of the tax.
They are likely to have to pay one or two euros per night from 2018 rather than nothing as at present, bringing them in line with all other longer-stay cruise arrivals.
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The Balearic Government says the increases would bring the tourist destinations in line with other resorts in Europe.
Spanish newspapers estimate it would bring in an extra 100 million euros.
However, the Balearic Government still insists that revenue collection is NOT the main purpose of the so-called ecotax.
They say it is a move to regulate the number of visitors to the Balearics and to stem the "tourist avalanche" over the last few years which many feel has been detrimental to the islands.
Mallorca is one of the places where protesters fighting mass tourism have staged demonstrations, including in a seafront restaurant which they stormed, letting off pink flares and throwing confetti at customers.
