The Balearic Government will propose in Parliament a general increase in the ecotax from March to December, of up to 200% in the case of cruise passengers, and a new tax on rental cars and private cars for tourist use within the framework of a package of measures to contain tourist overcrowding.
The autonomous executive of the PP, which will have to negotiate to carry out its initiatives because it does not have a parliamentary majority, also plans to prohibit new tourist rental places in multi-family homes and increase sanctions up to 500,000 euros against illegal accommodation offers.
The measures to contain the pressure of mass tourism, as highlighted in its presentation by the Minister of Tourism, Jaume Bauzá, are consistent with the objectives established by the social, economic and political entities integrated in the Pact for Sustainability, which seeks to make the economic model of the archipelago compatible with the environment and the well-being of citizens.
"The islands have reached their limit", said Bauzá echoing the phrase said by the President of the Government, Marga Prohens, when she announced her intention to stop the growth of tourism and alleviate the pressure suffered by residents due to effects such as road saturation and housing shortages.
The Minister, who has estimated at 125,000 the hotel and vacation rental places created under the last left-wing Government (almost a quarter of the total), has indicated that the sustainable tourism tax (ITS), known as the ecotax, will be increased with the aim of regulating the flow of visitors and would be increased particularly on cruise passengers because they are a sector of greater "impact".
In addition to environmental and modernization investments, the collection of the ITS will also be used for improvements in the labor market such as incentivizing the conversion of fixed-term contracts into permanent ones, as well as to combat illegal tourist offers.
The minimum tax will be 0.25 euros per night in the lowest category accommodations and the maximum six euros for cruises and the most expensive hotels in high season. The charge in January and February would be eliminated.
Likewise, the Government proposes that residents of the Balearic Islands who pay the ecotax for staying in establishments in the archipelago can deduct up to 250 euros annually in the regional section of the personal income tax (IRPF).
The plan contemplates, in addition to prohibiting new vacation rentals in multi-family buildings (already banned in municipalities such as Palma), raising the quality requirements to renew the licenses already granted.
Bauzá has pointed out that the exchange of places and the change of uses of obsolete tourist establishments is reactivated to create housing at a limited price and a temporary place exchange is created while the island councils set new limits.
It will also be up to the island administrations, competent in tourist planning, to promote strategic modernization plans in reconversion areas based on three types of antiquity and saturation, and investments will be incentivized to reform hotels without increasing heights.
These and other measures of the Government's program to contain tourism growth will be negotiated with the parliamentary groups to approve them through a decree law that has guarantees of being ratified in Parliament, the executive's spokesperson, Antoni Costa, has remarked.
The other major initiative of the plan, the tax on tourist vehicles, cannot be approved by decree and will be formulated through a bill that will be negotiated both with the parties with parliamentary representation and with the affected business sectors, Costa, also Minister of Finance, has remarked.
He has detailed that the tax, with a dissuasive purpose and whose collection will be used for public transport projects, will be applied to private vehicles that circulate less than six months through the islands, whose owners would pay the tax to the shipping company that transports them to the archipelago, and to rental vehicles, which would be paid by the companies.
In the latter case, companies that have their cars registered in the Balearic Islands could fully deduct the circulation tax, which would reduce "to zero" the impact of the new tax.
According to Costa, who has highlighted the pioneering nature of the measure, it is proposed to divide the tax into a fixed contribution and a variable part depending on CO2 emissions and the length of stay, with a total cost ranging from 35 to 150 euros per vehicle.
The Government will begin to negotiate its draft decree now so that it can enter into force as soon as possible, but Costa has admitted that it is unlikely to enter into force next summer. For the tax on tourist vehicles, he foresees a long negotiation process.
