Various regions of Spain are planning to limit the influx of guests or impose tourist taxes on them.
Quotas on vacationers massively populating the favorite Mediterranean holiday destination in the summer months – a topic being actively discussed by the regional government, according to its newly elected Socialist vice-president Biel Barceló. The left-wing coalition that came to power in Palma in early July intends to follow the example of the Canary Islands, which have already prepared specific plans to limit the number of visitors.
In turn, the new head of the economic department of the Madrid city hall, Carlos Sánchez – the leadership of the Spanish capital is now also concentrated in the hands of the left – announced a plan to introduce a new tourist tax in the city. Following the example of many world capitals and resorts, Madrileños also intend to lighten the pocket of each tourist by a few extra euros per night. On Mallorca and neighboring islands, such a tax will also soon appear: there it is called an ecological tax.
As Russkaya Germaniya notes, news from the Balearic Islands had the effect of a bombshell 600 km away – in Madrid, where even supra-regional politicians not directly related to tourism have begun to speak out about the coming changes. 'This is simply a tragedy,' muses Spain's Minister of Justice Rafael Catalá about the obstacles for tourists in Madrid and the Balearic archipelago. 'From the point of view of competitiveness, it's the same as shooting yourself in the foot.' Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy also finds the plans of regional authorities a headache: from his point of view, one must be 'extremely cautious' in the tourism sector.
In Spain, this is indeed the case: the share of tourism in national GDP reaches 11 percent, and two million people are employed in this sector of the economy. With one of the highest unemployment rates among all EU states – 23 percent – any changes for the worse for welcome foreign guests promise big problems for Rajoy's People's Party in the upcoming parliamentary elections at the end of the year.
That local authorities are not limited to mere threats is shown by the example of Barcelona: the new mayor of the Catalan capital, Ada Colau – another representative of left-wing political forces – has just announced a one-year moratorium on opening new hotels and other tourist accommodations in the city. 'Order must be restored in this area,' responds the 41-year-old human rights activist who recently came to power, reacting to complaints from Barcelonans exhausted by the influx of 'low-quality' guests who, instead of spending money decently, throw cheap parties and roam the city streets drunk or even naked.
In the Balearic Islands, the influx of tourists has not yet caused protests from the population, which is extremely dependent on visitors. According to official data, 80 percent of them arrive on Mallorca, Menorca, Ibiza and Formentera in the summer months. The Balearics' capacity to receive guests in the high season is 'fully exhausted,' believes Biel Barceló. The Mediterranean islands need to find ways to stretch the reception of the same number of visitors over a longer period, says the politician responsible for economy and tourism in the Balearic government.
The head of the Canary Islands government, Fernando Clavijo (representing the nationalist coalition Coalición Canaria), has his own plan to limit the number of tourists. Thirteen million guests a year provide the region with 30 percent of its GDP, and yet one of the most common types of vacationers in the Canaries evokes nothing but irritation from local authorities: 'We are not benefited when twenty million people come but book an all-inclusive package,' complains the nationalist politician. 'We need a limit on such guests and an increase in others – those who respect nature and are willing to leave money here.'
The mayor of Madrid, Manuela Carmena, found the proposals of her economic advisors to introduce a tourist tax too radical: it will not be in the Spanish capital, at least for now. In another capital, which is very successfully diverting tourist flow from Madrid, the Catalan one, the tax was successfully introduced in 2012. Depending on the hotel category, each tourist over 16 years old brings directly to the Barcelona city treasury from 50 cents to 2.50 euros per night.