With an average of 2.1 residents per tourist, Lanzarote and Fuerteventura would be the most benefited islands if tourist overnight stays were taxed through an island tourist tax or through the town councils.
In Gran Canaria there are 7.3 residents per tourist, in Tenerife 5.7 and in La Palma 21.2, according to tourism data from the Canary Islands. The tourist pressure in the rest of the islands is even lower.
In fact, the population of Lanzarote is the most in favor of introducing a tourist tax among the Canary Islands.
In the last regional congress of Coalición Canaria that took place in April, it was agreed to "create a specific tax for the tourism sector" with two possible routes. Either allow councils and town halls a specific tax or surcharge on the IGIG.
The president of the Canary Islands, Fernando Clavijo, reiterated this Tuesday his rejection of the first option, since, as he has argued, it would contribute to an economic "inequality" between islands, and he added that, if necessary, the IGIC would be sought as a source of income.
Asked in the plenary session of the Parliament of the Canary Islands by the spokesperson of the Agrupación Socialista Gomera, Casimiro Curbelo, Clavijo stressed that the collection of the IGIC and other REF taxes is going "frankly well" because the economy in general and tourism in particular are also "going well".
But "if it were necessary to find a tax to improve the collection of the tourism sector", the Government of the Canary Islands and the "experts" consulted consider touching the IGIC as the best way, as it is distributed more uniformly, while a tax per night "would aggravate the economic difference" between islands, since those with greater tourist activity would charge more.
Clavijo has insisted that "if that moment arrives" agreements will be sought in the parliamentary arc to modify the IGIC, "but at this moment we consider that if we want to better regulate the sector" the "most appropriate" way is to reinforce the regulation of vacation homes and make improvements in the destination.
He has expressed his agreement with measures adopted by councils such as those of Lanzarote and Tenerife to charge for the use of certain spaces, regulate capacity and "avoid overcrowding that generates conflicts" with the resident population.
The Canarian president has recalled that his party, CC, nor any of those that support the regional executive contemplated a tax per night in their respective electoral programs, and has added that they give priority to a better redistribution of wealth generated by the sector through an improvement of salaries.