Barcelona plans to increase the tourist tax for cruise passengers staying in the city for less than 12 hours, the mayor revealed in a Sunday interview.
“We are going to propose… substantially increasing the tax for stopover cruise passengers,” Jaume Collboni told El Pais newspaper.
It comes just weeks after protesters in Barcelona, chanting: “Tourists go home,” sprayed visitors with water as part of a demonstration against mass tourism.
“In the case of stopover cruise passengers (less than 12 hours) there is intensive use of public space without any benefit for the city and a feeling of occupation and saturation,” he said.
Anti-tourism activists have protested in popular holiday destinations across Spain, such as Palma de Mallorca, Malaga, and the Canary Islands.
However, many argue that only a minority benefit from the industry, while the vast majority are left with poorly paid jobs and experience housing shortages, traffic jams, noise, and pollution.
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