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Reprinted with permission
from The Herald (Glasgow)
Copyright 2000 Scottish Media
Newspapers Ltd. A proposal to levy a new tax on Britons and other foreign tourists visiting Majorca and its neighbours next summer has provoked a major row in the holiday islands. Majorca is the biggest single destination for Britons holidaying abroad and this year attracted 3.2 million visitors from the United Kingdom. Hundreds of thousands of others went to Ibiza, Menorca and Formentera which make up the Balearic Islands off the east coast of mainland Spain. Another 2.9 million people from Germany also visited. Now the islands' regional government, a coalition of Socialists, Greens and the left-wing Progressive Party, has put a Bill before the local parliament in Palma, the capital of Majorca, introducing a so-called environmental tax to be paid by tourists staying at hotels. The aim, says the administration, is to get it through in time for next year's packed summer season. If the new tax does come in a family of four on a package holiday will find themselves paying an extra three pounds a night for their hotel accommodation. People staying at luxury five star establishments could have to pay even more. But people on villa holidays will not have to pay a peseta of the new tax. The money raised will be spent on keeping beaches clean and projects aimed at improving the environment in the islands, says the regional government. But the move immediately brought massive protests from the tourist industry. Pedro Canellas, president of the Majorca Hoteliers Federation, said yesterday: "This is unconstitutional and goes completely against the Maastricht Treaty which Spain signed that guarantees free movement of people through Europe." His organisation is starting action through the Spanish courts in an attempt to make the Balearic government's move declared illegal. Another hotelier said: "People hate the word tax. This is really going to hit the tourist industry if it goes ahead." He added: "It is also
totally unfair. Only people staying at hotels will have to pay. Those at
villas won't pay anything - yet they will be the ones who might just get
some benefit from it if the government really does spend the money on the
environment." |