Barcelona endorses charging 30 euros to cruise passengers in transit starting in 2030

BarcelonaA mixed bag this Tuesday for Jaume Collboni's government. The city council's Economy Commission endorsed this Tuesday a progressive increase in the tourist surcharge for cruise ship passengers in transit –those who spend less than twelve hours in the city– until this type of tourist pays thirty euros to visit the city. The municipal government, on the other hand, has not managed to gather a sufficient majority around the increase in IBI (property tax) for luxury hotels. Both files will now face a definitive debate this Friday in the plenary session.

Regarding cruises, the surcharge will go ahead without problems after the PSC executive secured the votes of Junts and also ERC. Support that they obtained after agreeing on what part of the extra revenue obtained from this increase will be allocated to. In the case of the 'juntaires', they have agreed that the money be used to accelerate the shade plan with more awnings in play areas, more trees, and more public fountains. The republicans, for their part, have agreed to allocate the extra income to reinforcement classes and extracurricular activities for the most needy children.

The agreement establishes that the increase in the surcharge be gradual. Thus, the forecast is that in 2027 this surcharge will go from the current 5 euros to 12, and then increase at a rate of four euros each year until reaching 24 euros in 2030. A figure to which must be added the six euros that this type of cruise passenger pays as a tourist tax and which is collected by the Generalitat. The City Council calculates that if the current number of cruise passengers in transit is maintained, by 2031 the surcharge on cruise ships in transit could leave up to 23.7 million euros more in the municipal coffers. However, the fourth deputy mayor, Jordi Valls, has once again stressed that the goal is not to increase revenue, but to deter this type of offer.

From Barcelona en Comú, on the other hand, they have considered that the proposal made by the PSC only seeks to increase revenue and not fulfill the mayor's promise to try to eliminate this type of offer in the city. The group's spokesperson, Marc Serra, justified his group's vote against the increase in the surcharge because they would like it to rise directly to 24 euros in 2027, and not gradually. The PP and Vox also voted against it because they believe the measure "persecutes" tourism.

IBI for luxury hotels, up in the air

The other file debated in the commission had less luck: the rest of the fiscal ordinances, whose main novelty was the proposal to raise to 1.3% the IBI paid by properties with the highest value in the city. The law allows city councils in cities like Barcelona to set a differentiated IBI rate for the 10% of properties with the highest value in the city, a category that includes 233 properties, of which 203 are luxury hotels. Despite being an agreement that Valls himself reached with Barcelona en Comú a year ago, the Comuns have voted against it.

Serra reproached Valls for not having discussed or negotiated the proposal before bringing it to a vote in the commission, and asked him to withdraw the file to agree on it beforehand and move from abstention to a yes. Valls, on the other hand, reproached him for voting against actions that had been previously agreed upon and that, as he said, go beyond the economic policies of Ada Colau's governments. In this case, Junts also voted against the ordinances because they do not "give room to breathe" to families, SMEs, the self-employed, and small businesses. Friday will be the final vote.