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Another Spanish city threatens to introduce tourist tax
The popular northern Spain destination wants to impose the charge to ensure more “quality tourism”
The northern Spanish city of Santiago de Compostela, located in A Coruña, Galicia, has become the latest region to threaten Brits and other visitors with the sometimes unpopular tourist tax as a supposed means to cover cleaning costs and heritage conservation.
The area is a long-standing favourite for British and other European holidaymakers and its Camino de Santiago pilgrimage route attracts around 300,000 foreign visitors each year.
However, local mayor Goretti Sanmartin claims the historic city is tired of being considered a “theme park” and insists the tax will help the council achieve “controlled quality tourism” and therefore mark the destination as a “comfortable and breathable” space for both locals and holidaymakers.
While the final amount that would be charged is still open to debate, the regional government believes somewhere between 1.80 and 3 euros per person per night would be reasonable.
“The tourist tax does not have a significant effect on tourism and, on the other hand, it does have on the compensation of the extra costs of certain services as a result of the tourist pressure,” explained the spokesperson.
The Santiago authorities don’t believe this small extra cost should deter tourists but in any case, it’s unlikely to be passed before 2024 due to all of the bureaucratic hoops that need to be jumped through.
Councillors are also determined to put the additional income to good use, by reducing the number of touristy souvenir shops in the historical centre and making the busiest spaces, such as the trail down to San Pedro or Praza do Obradoiro, more inviting and accessible.
Ms Sanmartin added: “The tourist tax is necessary because there are a series of expenses derived from tourism, which has many positive aspects but also has some prejudices for the city.
“Nobody stops coming to the city because they have a tourist tax and at least they contribute to those expenses that tourism generates.”
In other news: June 2023 was the second wettest of the century in Spain
Image: Luis Miguel Bugallo Sanchez via Wikimedia Commons
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