Read all about it here:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/desti ... o-tax.html
Menorca, Mallorca, Ibiza and Formentera "eco"tax.
Menorca, Mallorca, Ibiza and Formentera "eco"tax.
Never try to out-stubborn your guests.
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costa-brava
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These punitive taxes are stupid but seem to be "de moda". We collect 45 cents per night per adult up to the first 7 nights for tourist tax. The total for each apartment across the summer is about €40 so I am fairly sure that most of this is swallowed up in admin costs.
This "ECO" tax looks to be much the same.
What's most annoying is that it gets so much publicity and it becomes an off-put way beyond its real cost to the tourist.
The exchange rate between the pound and the euro should have Brits flooding over to Spain in hordes. The average rental charged in euros is a couple of hundred pounds cheaper for Brits than it was 3 or 4 years ago but they are put off by stories about eco-tax that will cost 2 adults and 2 kids less than €30 for a week.
Tourist authorities are parasites the world over. They don't promote tourism but rather they live from it. That's why they have to impose these silly irritating taxes.
And then, don't get me started about the 20 motorhomes parked along the beachfront every night. They pay nothing to park, spend nothing in the shops or restaurants, chuck all their rubbish in the small litter bins and their dogs do poopsies in the beach. Now let's charge them a whopping motorhometax! Or the police should send them to the motorhome parks that the campsites have provided.
Although I don't suppose that's such a problem in the Balearics!
This "ECO" tax looks to be much the same.
What's most annoying is that it gets so much publicity and it becomes an off-put way beyond its real cost to the tourist.
The exchange rate between the pound and the euro should have Brits flooding over to Spain in hordes. The average rental charged in euros is a couple of hundred pounds cheaper for Brits than it was 3 or 4 years ago but they are put off by stories about eco-tax that will cost 2 adults and 2 kids less than €30 for a week.
Tourist authorities are parasites the world over. They don't promote tourism but rather they live from it. That's why they have to impose these silly irritating taxes.
And then, don't get me started about the 20 motorhomes parked along the beachfront every night. They pay nothing to park, spend nothing in the shops or restaurants, chuck all their rubbish in the small litter bins and their dogs do poopsies in the beach. Now let's charge them a whopping motorhometax! Or the police should send them to the motorhome parks that the campsites have provided.
Although I don't suppose that's such a problem in the Balearics!
Everyone is up in arms about it....even central govt. It is definitely not popular but they seem to be introducing it anyway. They just don't want to listen.
As many point out it was failure last time. Here in Ibiza all they did was bulldoze the old bullring which had been derelict for years and was planned to be flattened anyway. The rubble lay there for years until they decided to create a car park that although useful for tourists in summer, costs an absolute fortune in charges....so really nothing was achieved.
Mouse
x
p.s last time it was levied the hoteliers paid it out of their profits rather than levy it as a direct charge.
As many point out it was failure last time. Here in Ibiza all they did was bulldoze the old bullring which had been derelict for years and was planned to be flattened anyway. The rubble lay there for years until they decided to create a car park that although useful for tourists in summer, costs an absolute fortune in charges....so really nothing was achieved.
Mouse
x
p.s last time it was levied the hoteliers paid it out of their profits rather than levy it as a direct charge.
One martini, two martini, three martini floor!
That is always the case with these taxes. You would have thought the local areas, no matter where would gain by the tourist spend. We understand the likes of Amsterdam, Paris Catalunya and others have a similar "tourist" tax.last time it was levied the hoteliers paid it out of their profits rather than levy it as a direct charge.
Is tourist tax politically correct??? This one is called ECO for some reason.
Never try to out-stubborn your guests.
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costa-brava
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CASA wrote: "Tourism is not only about the Brits."
I replied to your post Casa which was a link to the Telegraph. They don't come much more Brit than the Telegraph!
I try to stay within the broad theme of the original post.
Mouse wrote: " last time it was levied the hoteliers paid it out of their profits rather than levy it as a direct charge."
That's what I do with the tourist tax. It's not really following the rules. We are supposed to show the tax on an invoice and the parents are supposed to complete a form to exempt each child.
But with bookings coming from such a mix of sites etc. it's easier just to count tourist tax as another cost. The total for this year on five apartments was just over 200 euros.
But the real reason for doing it this way is because of the reactions I got when it was first introduced. When you are showing people in and trying to explain all the whys and wherefores of the apartment it's a big distraction and annoyance. If people come in and it's all nice and smiley, it sets the mood for the whole stay.
Tourists put an absolute fortune into the local (and national) economy. So the local people get work and subsequently pay their taxes. It's all win, win. Another punitive tax is plainly stupid. But like you say, they're going ahead regardless. That's democracy!
As the Eurythmics sang: "Everybody's looking for something. Who am I to disagree?"
I replied to your post Casa which was a link to the Telegraph. They don't come much more Brit than the Telegraph!
I try to stay within the broad theme of the original post.
Mouse wrote: " last time it was levied the hoteliers paid it out of their profits rather than levy it as a direct charge."
That's what I do with the tourist tax. It's not really following the rules. We are supposed to show the tax on an invoice and the parents are supposed to complete a form to exempt each child.
But with bookings coming from such a mix of sites etc. it's easier just to count tourist tax as another cost. The total for this year on five apartments was just over 200 euros.
But the real reason for doing it this way is because of the reactions I got when it was first introduced. When you are showing people in and trying to explain all the whys and wherefores of the apartment it's a big distraction and annoyance. If people come in and it's all nice and smiley, it sets the mood for the whole stay.
Tourists put an absolute fortune into the local (and national) economy. So the local people get work and subsequently pay their taxes. It's all win, win. Another punitive tax is plainly stupid. But like you say, they're going ahead regardless. That's democracy!
As the Eurythmics sang: "Everybody's looking for something. Who am I to disagree?"
costabravarent
Sorry to say you wrote
We post, where we can links to English information, as this forum is in English, only times is when news is only available in other Languages.
To prove there is no hard feelings here is the news in Spanish.
http://www.20minutos.es/noticia/2576898 ... uristicas/
http://www.diariodemallorca.es/mallorca ... 61865.html
Sorry to say you wrote
. That points towards Brits and being your point on this subject, I do not see any connection with where the information comes from.The exchange rate between the pound and the euro should have Brits flooding over to Spain in hordes
We post, where we can links to English information, as this forum is in English, only times is when news is only available in other Languages.
To prove there is no hard feelings here is the news in Spanish.
http://www.20minutos.es/noticia/2576898 ... uristicas/
http://www.diariodemallorca.es/mallorca ... 61865.html
Never try to out-stubborn your guests.
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costa-brava
- Posts: 689
- Joined: Mon Sep 20, 2010 11:57 am
- Location: costa brava spain
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Casa:
I clicked on the link you posted and read that the Balearics were going to introduce this Eco-tax.
The sub-headline claims, "This daily tax is likely to increase the cost of holidays." or something like that.
Given that it's in the Telegraph it's reasonable to assume it is aimed at Brits.
This type of headline appears frequently especially about Spain. I think there are a number of ex-pats who make a living from writing these scare stories.
So I think my comment about Brits is perfectly valid but as always we'll agree to disagree. At least we both agree that it's not a wildly intelligent move.
I clicked on the link you posted and read that the Balearics were going to introduce this Eco-tax.
The sub-headline claims, "This daily tax is likely to increase the cost of holidays." or something like that.
Given that it's in the Telegraph it's reasonable to assume it is aimed at Brits.
This type of headline appears frequently especially about Spain. I think there are a number of ex-pats who make a living from writing these scare stories.
So I think my comment about Brits is perfectly valid but as always we'll agree to disagree. At least we both agree that it's not a wildly intelligent move.