A taxing issue

The Balearics are on course for a record summer season: the Balearic government says so, the hoteliers say so and so do the tour operators. A record summer season ... so does that mean that all those who are forecasting doom and gloom when the tourist tax is introduced later this year are wrong? And that the Balearic government, which claims that the surcharge will not hit holiday sales, are right? It is an interesting question. The opposition Partido Popular have said that the tourist tax would hit the industry hard: not according  to the booking figures at the moment. Of course, there is a strong possibility that the majority of tourists who will be heading to our shores this summer have no idea that a tourist tax is being introduced. They might get a shock when they arrive at their hotel and find they have an outstanding bill from the ministry of tourism. The last time a tourist tax was introduced the tourist industry fought long and hard to get it scrapped. They succeeded in the end because the coalition government was voted out of office. The surcharge made banner headlines across Europe but on this occasion everyone appears to be rather relaxed about the whole thing. In fact, the Balearic government might just get lucky and find that they can introduce their tax without much controversy. It could backfire on them, though. By keeping tourists in the dark, it could mean that there will be problems once the tax has been introduced rather than before.