GOB wants the tax to be spent on the environment. | Andrew Ede

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The Balearic environmentalist organisation, GOB, has added its voice to others that have taken issue with the national secretary-of-state for tourism, Isabel Borrego, who has said that the proposed tourist eco-tax will result in a loss of tourists and of economic activity.

GOB cites the case of Catalonia, where a tourist tax was introduced in November 2012. Figures show that tourist numbers rose steadily from 2009 to 2014, with there having been increases in 2013, the first full year of the tax’s implementation, and in 2014.

Indeed, the increases were greater from 2012 to 2014 than had been the case between 2009 and 2011. The stats also show that tourist spending went up between 2012 and 2013 and then again between 2013 and 2014. (The figures come from the various governmental surveys of tourist movement and spending.)

GOB favours the introduction of a tourist tax in the Balearics but insists that it should be used for environmental purposes and projects and not be directed towards tourism activities.