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Barcelona raises the tourist tax before Semana Santa
Barcelona is introducing an increase in the tourist tax just before Semana Santa, making accommodation more expensive for visitors to the city from this Wednesday. Hotels, tourist apartments, campsites, hostels, and cruises will already be applying the new surcharge.
The measure, approved by the Parlament de Catalunya, comes at one of the busiest times of the year, when the city receives thousands of visitors and demand for accommodation soars.
The increase will not be temporary: the calendar already envisages further rises from January, foreshadowing a greater impact on the cost of travelling to Barcelona in the coming years.
The aim is to strengthen public revenue in a context of high tourism pressure, allocating it to urban services, maintenance and cultural promotion.
For residents, the change may also influence the planning of family visits or the use of tourist accommodation within the city itself.
In a capital where tourism is part of everyday life, the update to the tax once again places the debate between competitiveness and sustainability at the forefront, at a key moment for Barcelona’s urban model.