Barcelona City Council has approved a plan to progressively raise the tourist tax for cruise passengers who spend less than 12 hours in the city, starting after 2026. The current fee of €5 will increase to a maximum of €24 as established by Catalan law, with the full hike to be implemented through 2030.
Under the new measure, the tax increase will be phased in over several years to provide gradual adjustment for the cruise sector. The council’s approach aims to address the municipality’s reached capacity for tourism and to adjust fiscal contributions from visitors who do not stay overnight.
During the same plenary session, Barcelona authorities also confirmed a freeze on the surcharge for hostels at €4. At the same time, a proposal to raise the differentiated property tax (IBI) on leisure and hospitality businesses with the highest cadastral values was rejected.
Barcelona’s Fiscal Strategy for Tourism
Deputy Mayor for Economy Jordi Valls defended the gradual tax increase and hostel surcharge freeze, noting that hostels face different conditions than other tourist establishments. He supported a progressive four-year rollout to give clarity and certainty regarding tax changes.
Valls described the tax hike as the largest planned for cruise ships in the Mediterranean, exceeding rates at
other major ports such as Amsterdam and Santorini. The increase forms part of Barcelona’s strategy to have the tourism sector assume greater responsibility for municipal finances, particularly as the city has reached its tourism capacity limits.
