Popular holiday destination hitting tourists with new per night tax

Holidaymakers are now being hit with a new tourist tax when staying in a popular part of Portugal. The fee has to be paid all-year-round in the Algarve, and applies to everyone over the age of 12.

Cash generated by the Lagoa Municipal Tourist Tax measure will be used to 'improve the tourism infrastructure at a local level'. The tourist tax in the municipality, which is also home to Praia do Carvoeiro, Ferragudo and Porches, will cost €1 per night between November 1 and March 31, which is considered to be low season.

In the high season, which runs from April 1 to October 31, it will cost €2 per night. A maximum of seven consecutive nights will be charged to all guests, aged 13 or over.

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The tax will apply to anyone staying in hotels, apartments, hostels, camping and caravan parks, plus other accommodation establishments. In a press release, the municipality said: “In a municipality where tourism plays a fundamental role in the economy and where growing tourist demand has led to increased pressure on equipment, municipal infrastructures, urban and natural space, this tax represents a new source of financing that, in a complementary logic, will allow improvements to be made to municipal public and private assets, the provision of public information and support services for tourists and cultural and recreational services in the city.”

However there are exemptions to the tax, including those under the age of 12, guests with disabilities and foreign students who enter the University of Algarve who use tourist resorts and local accommodation establishments at the beginning of each academic year, up to a maximum of 60 consecutive days. Guests whose stay is motivated by treatment from a doctor, extending to a companion will also be exempt, along with those whose stay is the subject of a proven offer by a tourist enterprise or local accommodation establishment. The fee is collected, as well as subsequently delivered to the Municipality of Lagoa, by tourist establishments on an electronic platform created by the municipality for this purpose.