The time has come to ditch the tourist tax

The time has come to ditch the tourist tax. | Nekane Domblás | PALMA

Jason MoorePalma28/09/2023 15:16
TW
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The new Balearic government likes cutting taxes but the tax it should be cutting is still being enforced. The time has come to ditch the tourist tax. With the amount of revenue tourism brings to this island it is a bit rich that holidaymakers should have to pay a tax also.

The money raised was also badly spent by the previous administration. When it was launched it was reported that tourist tax cash would be spent on tourism-related projects. Which is fine. In the end the money was being spent on all sorts of non-related tourism projects, which is rather scandalous. The Balearic government already raises many millions of euros from the tourist industry; in fact it is one of the key contributors to the Balearic economy.

So really tourism already pays enough. I am sure that there are other ways in which the local government could raise money or even just cut back on spending. What is quite amazing is that tourists have accepted that they have to pay a tax and do so without a word of protest. It just shows you how much they must love Mallorca.

The new government should be aware that the islands are facing growing competition from holiday destinations in the eastern Mediterranean. Also, the Balearics are no longer a cheap destination. Scrapping the tax would be a way of saying thank you to the millions of tourists who come here every year. It is not a lot of money but every little counts. If the tax was scrapped it would certainly be well received by the tourist industry.

The Balearics are getting a reputation for tax. The property market already pays its fair share and so does the tourist industry. The extra money could perhaps be found by reducing the pay packets of the small army of politicians who work across the Balearics. This would indeed be a popular move.