Holiday boost for Brits as Spanish hotspot ditches plans for tourist tax
The Valencia region of Spain is set to ditch its controversial tourist tax before it even gets off the ground. Following elections, the new president of the Generalitat, Carlos Mazón has declared war on all sorts of taxes.
He has pledged to lower the regional portion of personal income tax "for everyone, without exceptions and primarily for medium and low incomes". In addition, he has pledged to eliminate inheritance and gift tax, declaring: "Never again will we pay twice for the effort and sacrifice of a lifetime."
And in a major boost for holidaymakers, including the hundreds of thousands of Brits who visit the Valencia region each year, Mr. Mazon said he would defend tourism to the maximum.
The imminent tourist tax - approved by the previous executive before the elections and due to come into force this December - will be abolished. Pledging support for "tourist excellence both in quality and quantity", he declared at his investiture yesterday: "I will defend our tourism model tooth and nail, finally fighting to open permanent connections with markets that have never been seen before."
(Getty Images/iStockphoto)The previous administration said it would introduce a tourist tax of around two euros per night for tourists, including cruise ship passengers, but each individual council region could decide whether to charge or not. One of the holiday hotspots which said it would "never" introduce a tourist tax was Benidorm, with the local mayor declaring: "NO and never!"
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Fede Fuster, president of the hotel and tourism business association of the Valencian community, said they had every confidence the new executive would stick to its word.
"This saves the match ball that we had with the tourist tax because if Carlos Mazón has been explicitly clear with something, it has been that he is going to repeal that tax that had us very worried," he said.
Benidorm's mayor Toni Perez said last year: "It is not a fee, it is a tax". He added: "The government of Benidorm, in tune with what is maintained by the sector, has always defended the "no and never" approach to the tourist tax. It generates more uncertainty in a sector that has always been a tractor and a locomotive, offering great returns to the gross domestic product of the Valencian community."
"The introduction of the tourist tax is contrary to the model of the Valencian community. We do not understand that forcing a visitor to pay a fee is the best letter of introduction or example of hospitality that can be given. Sustainable, responsible and quality tourism has been practised day by day and for decades in this region in destinations such as Benidorm, and that has little or nothing to do with penalising the sector and the activity or with introducing a tax that does not solve anything. Benidorm will not apply it."
The news comes as a huge holiday boost for Brits; after all, Valencia has been named Europe's best coastal spot.
A recent study by Which? compared quality of the beaches, seafronts and marinas, attractiveness, food and drink, and value for money, with Valencia coming out top, beating the likes of Malaga and Barcelona.
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