The large tourism companies of the Canary Islands, against the ecotax: "Administrations have more money than ever"

The alliance of large tourism companies in the Canary Islands, Excelcan, believes that it is not necessary to introduce a tourist tax in the archipelago and does not see it as "smart" to increase the IGIC to the sector, whose percentage varies little in relation to the rest of Spain.

"Public administrations have more money than ever, curiously even though there is no state budget. Therefore, from a fundraising point of view, we do not see very clearly the need to increase taxes," whether it is a tourist tax or an increase in the IGIC, the vice president of Excelcan, José Carlos Francisco, told the press.

During the presentation of the 'Report on the tourism situation in the Canary Islands and perspectives' for the first quarter of 2025, Francisco defended that "an eminently tourist economy" such as that of the islands should not have a tax on overnight stays.

"We have not had it until now and we continue to think the same unless they make us change our minds," he said.

The vice president of Excelcan has indicated that they do not agree with taxes that tax overnight stays, but they do agree with those that are imposed to visit special places or natural resources "that are very crowded and that must be organized".

In the case of the IGIC, he pointed out that it is the tax that has the least differential with respect to the same in the peninsula or Europe, the VAT.

"We as a tourism sector pay the average rate of IGIC, at 7%, while in the peninsula tourism and restaurants do not pay the average rate, which is 21%, but they pay 10%. That is, the difference that exists between taxation here and in the rest of the national territory is only three points," detailed the vice president of Excelcan, pointing out that in other sectors and products the difference can be 15 or 19 points.

In his opinion, it would not be "very smart to punish the sector when, contrary to what is said, it is contributing 40% of all taxes in the Canary Islands."