Barcelona is set to slam tourists with new charges for overnight stays in the Spanish city amidst protests against ‘overtourism’, which saw visitors drenched in water.
Tourists heading to the capital of Catalonia currently get hit with two separate tourist costs- a regional charge and city tax.
However the latter charge is rising for the second time this year, having previously been hiked from €2.75 to €3.25 last April.
Now eager travellers will have to shell out €4 per night for up to a week’s stay come October.
This combined with the regional charge, which is based on the type of accommodation could see some tourists paying as much as €7.50 (£6.30) nightly, and €52.50 for a seven-night stay.
Barcelona is set to hit tourists with increased charges for overnight stays shortly after an anti-tourism protest saw visitors drenched in water (pictured)
Tourists are currently charged a city tax and a regional charge – accomodation dependent, however the first charge is set to increase for the second time this year (pictured: locals spraying tourists)
This could see some visitors staying in high-end accommodations paying as much as €7.50 (£6.30) nightly, and €52.50 for a seven-night stay (pictured: anti-tourism protests in July)
The city says additional revenue will be used to improve local services, such as buses and roads (pictured tourists caught up in ‘overtourism’ protests in July)
Presently, visitors staying in four-star hotels are paying €1.70 a night in regional charges, whilst those in five-star hotels and short term rentals are coughing up €3.50 and €3.50 per night respectively, according to BirminghamLive.
The additional intake will be used by the local authority to ameliorate services such as buses, roads and escalators.
When discussing the new charges, Deputy Mayor Jaume Collboni declared Barcelona wants to encourage ‘quality tourism which adds value to the city’ instead of mass tourism.
The soaring charges for tourists gracing the Spanish city comes shortly after holidaymakers were forced to cower as they were sprayed with water guns by furious anti-tourism protesters in city.
On the weekend of July 6, thousands of locals marched through the city centre telling visitors to ‘go home’.
Diners were taunted by one protester with a disturbing sign which read: ‘Dear Tourist: Balconing is Fun!’ – clearly mocking Brits and other foreigners who have lost their lives falling from balconies while on holiday.
In another show of intimidation, cordons were wrapped around restaurants in the popular Las Ramblas boulevard. Some of the tourists watching the unruly scenes appeared bemused, laughing and shouting back at the demonstrators surrounding them as they tried to enjoy their meals.
Angry with the cost of living and lack of affordable housing in the city, locals carried signs which read ‘Barcelona is not for sale’ and chanted ‘tourists out of our neighbourhood’ at people as they stopped in front of the entrances to hotels.
But many have pointed out that tourists eating in local restaurants and spending their money is a benefit to their local economy, with staff at one eatery shaking their heads at what many are seeing as misdirected and unprovoked attacks.
A disturbing sign was plastered on to one window during the protest which read: ‘Dear tourist: Balconing is fun!’
A family are seen watching as the restaurant they are eating at is surrounded by anti-tourism protesters on the weekend of July 6
Customers watched aghast as the protest continued through the city on July 6
Protesters squirted water guns at tourists eating in popular spots in the city
A woman carries a sign that read ‘neighbours in danger of extinction’ through Barcelona
Police officers in riot gear were pictured keeping protesters away from the terraces of Barceloneta restaurants popular with tourists.
Under the slogan ‘Enough! Let’s put limits on tourism’, some 2,800 people – according to authorities – marched along a waterfront district of Barcelona on Saturday to demand a new economic model that would reduce the millions of tourists that visit every year.
Barcelona’s rising cost of housing, up 68 percent in the past decade, is one of the main issues for the movement, along with the effects of tourism on local commerce and working conditions in the city of 1.6 million inhabitants.
Rents rose by 18% in June from a year earlier in tourist cities such as Barcelona and Madrid, according to the property website Idealista.
For years, the city has worn anti-tourist graffiti with messages such as ‘tourists go home’ aimed at visitors some blame for the rising prices and shaping of the economy around tourists.
Barcelona’s mayor, Jaume Collboni, announced a plan in June to phase out all short-term lets by 2028, an unexpectedly drastic move by the authorities who seek to rein in soaring housing costs and make the city liveable for residents.
He said the city has a ‘firm’ commitment to limit mass tourism, including by introducing a tourist tax and turning more than 10,000 tourist flats into into residential buildings.
But many still feel not enough is being done to balance the needs of tourists, who bring millions to the city each year, with those of locals.
Anti-riot forces gesture as protesters put march through Las Ramblas on July 6
A protester shouting at people in a restaurant in Barcelona amid anti-tourism protests in the city
A symbolic cordon was put around a bar-restaurant in an area popular with tourists
A line of regional police officers keep protesters away from the terraces of Barcelona restaurants mostly frequented by tourists
Demonstrators protest in front of a bar-restaurant during a protest against mass tourism on Barcelona’s Las Ramblas alley
Customers at one bar shout back at demonstrators who have wrapped a cordon around the entrance
Protesters in Barcelona have told tourists that they are not welcome in the city
Demonstrators hold a sign reading ‘Barcelona is not for sale’ during a protest against mass tourism on Barcelona’s Las Ramblas alley on July 6
Thousands of people are protesting in downtown Barcelona against the city’s tourist overcrowding earlier in July
One local boasted a sign which read: No neighbours from outside the neighbourhood
‘Local shops are closing to make way for stores that do not serve the needs of neighbourhoods. People cannot afford their rents,’ said Isa Miralles, a 35-year-old musician who lives in the Barceloneta district.
‘I have nothing against tourism, but here in Barcelona we are suffering from an excess of tourism that has made our city unliveable,’ said Jordi Guiu, a 70-year-old sociologist.
The northeastern coastal city, with internationally famous sites such as La Sagrada Familia, received more than 12 million tourists last year, according to local authorities.
To combat the ‘negative effects of mass tourism’, the city council run by the Socialist Jaume Collboni announced 10 days ago that it was banning tourist apartment rentals – there are now more than 10,000 – by 2028 so that they can be put back on the local housing market.
The announcement could lead to a legal battle and is opposed by an association of tourist apartments who say it will just feed the black market.
The Barcelona protests come after similar demonstrations in tourist hotspots such as Malaga, Palma de Mallorca and the Canary Islands.
