Nueva Canarias-Bloque Canarista (NC-bc) in Tías asks the governing group of the City Council (PSOE-Podemos) and the rest of the opposition groups to assume their responsibility and bring to the next plenary session a motion for the City Council to approve a "fiscal ordinance regulating the fee for services and activities derived from tourist action and the obligation of sustainability".
The spokesperson for the NC-bc Local Committee in Tías, Juan de León, states that "we understand that this fee should have been promoted through the Government of the Canary Islands, but we cannot continue waiting year after year and failing to collect money that is necessary to meet the needs of the Canary Islands, Lanzarote, and the municipality of Tías".
The Canary Islanders' proposal calls for a tax of 1.00 euro per person per night for those staying in hotels, tourist apartments, and vacation rentals in the municipality. But, above all, it demands that the collection be earmarked, intended exclusively for three fundamental objectives:
- Purchase of land to make it available to the Government of the Canary Islands and **build affordable housing** for young people and families in the municipality.
- Investment in public infrastructure that improves the municipality.
- Funding for **sustainability measures to decarbonize** the destination and reduce the carbon footprint of tourism.According to the Lanzarote Tourism Observatory, Tías receives more than 860,000 tourists per year, generating over 7 million overnight stays. This represents a revenue potential of 7,000,000 euros.According to de León, "the major tourist destinations in the world already have this tax. Cities like Lisbon, Berlin, Amsterdam, Barcelona, or autonomous communities like the Balearic Islands have been applying it for years.""This is not an ideological issue, but rather one of modern and sustainable tourism management that does not penalize tourism, but rather contributes to the well-being of the environment where it operates. Furthermore, no premium destination can be sustained without earmarked taxation; why do our competitors apply it and we reject it?" points out Juan de León, who "emphasizes that this tax can be applied, exempting Canary Islands residents, as they do in the Balearic Islands."For NC-bc, the municipality of Tías can be a pioneer in applying this targeted tourist tax that contributes to improving public services, managing responsibly, and designing the future of the municipality“We want that revenue to translate into public housing, better infrastructure, and real sustainability so that our neighbors are the first to benefit,” concludes Juan de León.