Catalan tourist tax delayed

The Generalitat of Catalonia has decided to delay the imposition of a 'tourist tax' until after the summer season.

The money will go to a new entity called the Tourism Development Fund, with 25 percent for Catalonia's municipalities.

The Generalitat justifies the tax due to the current lack of resources for the promotion of tourism in the region and the cost to public funds to host events such as the Grand Prix, and the recent measure taken to establish Barcelona as the mobile phone capital of the world.

The region attracted the largest amount of tourist expenditure during 2011, with 11.27 billion euros - 21.4% of the total spent by foreigners in Spain and an annual increase of 7.4%.

Catalonia's tourism industry and Partido Popular have been putting the CiU coalition government under pressure to reconisder the tax, which was announced last year.

The proposed tax will be at the cost of between one and two euros per person, per night, and applied to all accomodation offered throughtout the tourism sector.

The over 65's, those with disabilities and the under 5's will be exempt from the charge, with those between 5 and 16 being charged at 50% of the standard rate.