UK tourists to 'feel the pinch' as another Spain hotspot announces tourist tax

Photo shows beach in Costa del Sol
-Credit: (Image: Reach Publishing Services Limited)


The cost of holidays to the popular holiday region of Andalucia in Spain will increase by almost five per cent if plans to introduce a tourist tax are given the green light.

The region, which includes the densely tourist-populated Costa del Sol, would be the latest to charge holidaymakers to stay overnight, following similar moves in Barcelona and the Balearic Islands.

If approved, the tax would raise costs for these travellers by 4.8 per cent, but local hoteliers have criticised the proposal, saying it's not only international visitors that will 'feel the pinch', but Spaniards on staycations too.

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Jose Luque, president of the Costa del Sol's leading hotel association, AEHCOS, told Spanish news site The Olive Press the charge would 'hit tourism hard', adding: "Even a simple stay in a local hotel, whether for a family holiday or an anniversary celebration, will become more expensive."

The cost of a three-night stay for a family-of-four requiring two hotel rooms, booked at €125 per night, could cost an extra €36 in tax, the publication reports.

The local authority's left wing parties who support the introduction of the tax say it would generate much-needed revenue for local services and infrastructure, particularly in busy tourist destinations.

An earlier proposal to implement a tourist tax in Andalusia was rejected in May this year, with tourism bosses labelling the plan 'premature'.