Tourist tax snafu: clash between Comuns and ERC derails postponement

BarcelonaThe give and take between Esquerra and Comuns over the tourist tax This Wednesday, the Parliament reached an unexpected result: the lack of agreement between the two partners of the Government has derailed the postponement of the increase in this tax, approved by the executive following complaints from Republicans and an opposing opinion from the Council of Statutory Guarantees. However, a first decree agreed upon with Comuns (not with ERC) has been validated, which gave the green light to doubling the tax rate throughout Catalonia and the possibility for municipalities to establish a surcharge of up to four euros (and up to eight in Barcelona). In other words: the Catalan Parliament has approved the new regulations, but not its postponement, contrary to the opinion of the Catalan government and the sector's requests.

This plunges the tourism sector into a "strange" situation, as Economy Minister Alícia Romero admitted in statements after the plenary session. And, to remedy this, the executive will urgently approve a new decree to once again postpone the tax's entry into force. However, if it brings it back to Parliament and no party changes its vote, it will again face the same problem: the opposition majority will defeat it. The Catalan executive plans to approve this new decree in the executive council next Tuesday. When it does, it will retroactively establish an exemption for hoteliers for the period during which the new rate has been applied. "We will approve a decree law with retroactive effect," said Romero, who expressed "surprise" at the vote's outcome.

In fact, the postponement has been rejected because, in addition to Comuns and the CUP, Junts voted against it (along with the PP, Vox, and Aliança). If the regional council members had combined their votes with those of the Republicans and the Socialists—who are against the increase in the tourist tax—the postponement decree would have been approved. "We are surprised that groups that have stood by the sector and have asked us to be empathetic have turned their backs on us today," said Romero, in an implicit allusion to Junts. The regional council members have taken advantage of the division among the governing partners to point the finger at the sore spot. "It's clear that the government itself should be the one controlling the agreements with its partners, not the opposition," said spokesperson Mònica Sales. The regional government's argument is that the government should repeal the entire decree, and not go to them to save face when it has been unable to reach an agreement with the partners of the "tripartite coalition."

The government will meet with the tourism sector this Thursday to explain the outcome of a situation that, Romero admitted, could generate "legal uncertainty." However, the expectation is that if any hotelier prefers to charge the new fees this week to comply with the current regulations, they can be refunded once they settle the tax at the end of the season.

Meeting with the sector

The minister was more lenient with the Comuns (Communists): she admitted that Jéssica Albiach's group had already made a "concession" by accepting that the decree-law they agreed upon be processed as a bill, also in application of the recommendations of the Council of Statutory Guarantees. The decree-law also contains measures that will remain in effect, such as the tax increase for large landowners. Initially, Jéssica Albiach's group supported the postponement to provide greater "legal security" for the sector. But this was before Esquerra broke away from the understanding between Comuns and the Catalan government and announced its own proposal that lowered rates and, furthermore, only allowed the surcharge to be applied during peak season in municipalities other than Barcelona.

In this sense, and although with an unexpected outcome, the debate on the decree has been the chronicle of a disagreement that had been announced. Since Esquerra announced its proposal, which they justify by giving differentiated treatment to the various tourist establishments in the territory, Comuns has raised its tone against the Republicans. The group's leader, Jéssica Albiach, accused them of taking a "conservative" turn, and parliamentary spokesman David Cid stated that His proposal adopted the agenda of "Together, PP and Fomento". Sources from Comuns emphasize that they have warned the executive at all times that they would vote against the postponement of this Wednesday's debate in Parliament. ERC maintains they were unaware of anything.

Credit supplement

The plenary session also ratified the Catalan government's first supplementary credit decree, approved by the executive council at the end of March. It provides an additional €2.1677 billion to the 2023 budget—the most recent approved—which the Socialists were able to push through with the support of ERC and Comuns, the abstention of Junts, and the rejection of the PP, Vox, the CUP, and Aliança Catalana. Romero emphasized that €1.134 billion is to cover salary increases and working conditions, while €1.033 billion is allocated to other departments.