Rejection of the tourist tax in the Valencian Community.

Rejection of the tourist tax in the Valencian Community.

In February 2024, the Valencian government approved the abolition of the tourist tax in the Valencian Community even before it was introduced, a measure that was warmly welcomed by the tourism sector. At the end of September 2023, the regional Minister of Innovation, Industry, Trade and Tourism, Nuria Montes, already announced that the abolition of the tourist tax would be one of the first measures of her department.

The Consell (the government body that has executive and regulatory powers, responsible for the administration of the Generalitat and the planning and development of Valencia's policy) has given its approval to the legislative decree to repeal the law on fiscal measures to promote sustainable tourism, which called into existence the Valencian tax office for tourist stays, before it came into force.

The Valencian hotel and tourism association HOSBEC, which has been fighting against this tax for two years and leads a movement under the slogan "NO TO THE TOURIST TAX" involving other entities and companies in the tourism sector of the Valencian Community, celebrated the repeal of the tax, which put an end to one of their biggest demands of recent years.

It is important to remember that the tourism sector faces additional challenges due to the economic uncertainty caused by factors such as inflation, rising raw material costs and the conflict in Ukraine, which affect both the spending capacity of travellers and the expenses of tourist establishments. Rising costs, including energy, transportation, food and wages, are eroding the sector's profit margins and an increase in tariffs can reduce demand and income.

Moreover, the Consell argues that the Valencia region competes with other regions and tourist destinations in Spain and beyond, where similar taxes or levies are not applied, so maintaining the so-called "tourist tax" could affect the competitiveness of the region. Other reasons for repealing the law are the administrative complexity of its execution and the extra operational burden that the law would bring for tourist businesses.

In conclusion, the Consell believes that repealing the tax will help remove the possible negative effect on the tourist image of the Valencia region, which could arise from its effective implementation. Whether the last word has been spoken remains to be seen. The opposition has criticized the repeal of the law. They emphasized that it is important to take serious measures to strengthen the tourism sector, make it competitive and sustainable, and argued that it is not the right solution to put the costs solely on the Valencian citizens. The future will tell, but for now, the tourist tax is not being introduced.

Sources: https://www.hosteltur.com/160194_eliminada-a-la-tasa-turistica-en-la-comunidad-valenciana.html and https://www.elperiodic.com/adios-tasa-turistica-comunitat-partir-2024-nosotros-quitamos-barreras-mientras-otros-ponen_931145