Posted: Sun Jan 2, 2022 2:30pm
There is considerable merit in a tourist tax depending on where it's levied and how and at what level. Quite a number of places in Germany, France and Italy levy one. And in Spain, Mallorca has had one since 2016 and tourism continued to grow year on year until the pandemic.
The max per night under that scheme you'll pay is 4 Euros if you're staying in luxury digs, and probably less. If you're in a posh place you're not really even gonna notice that. That's per person, per night. It's not payable by the under 16s, it's reduced if you stay longer, it's levied at a lower in low season.
I think what's crucial to remember is the money is collected locally by establishments and goes to the local authority to spend on improving the tourist experience. Lots of info here: https://www.mallorca-properties.co.uk/news/how-much-is-tourist-tax-in-majorca/
So a) 'Spain' won't be shooting itself in the foot because 'Spain' won't be determining the tax, the autonomous regions will do that and probably they'll devolve power to municipalities. And b) plenty of evidence suggests that a tourist tax doesn't dampen revenue at all. Indeed, the opposite can be true. Obviously, for some resorts it could well be problematic but a sweeping "tourist tax is bad" isn't necessarily true.