1. What is the tourism tax or green tax for hospitality?
The eco tax, tourist tax or green tax is a fee applied in some tourist destinations in order to reduce the environmental impact and create awareness of responsible tourism.
The money collected from the green tax is invested in environmental conservation and sustainability actions.
1.1. When is the green tax fee charged?
The green tax is charged at the beginning of the stay or at the time of reservation, it all depends on the region and the type of tourist property.
1.2. Where is the green tax fee charged in Spain?
It depends on the region, but it is charged in all tourist properties.
1.3. Does the green tax include VAT?
The green tax includes VAT, more specifically VAT at 10 %.
1.4. Which Spanish cities have a tourist tax?
The tourism tax in Spain is only charged in a few cities. For now, in Spain only Catalonia and the Balearic Islands charge a tourist tax. However, a green tax is also being discussed for other regions such as Canary Islands and Comunitat Valenciana.
1.5. Is the green tax paid directly at the hotel?
Depending on the property and the region where it is located, the eco-tax can be paid directly at the accommodation when settling the reservation fees or in advance at the time of booking. If the hotel uses an automated payment solution, the eco-tax can even be paid during online check-in.
1.6. As a hotelier, can I automate the payment of the green tax or tourist tax?
Of course you can, there are already solutions that allow you to digitize and automate the payment of these tourist fees to avoid manual processes, improve security and prevent fraud, as is the case of Civitfun’s Payment Protection product, which allows you to digitize and automate both the payment of the reservation and the payment of tourist taxes or eco-taxes.
Don’t forget to check the last section of the post for more frequently asked questions about the tourist tax.
2. Tourist tax in Catalonia
2.1. How much is the tourist tax in Catalonia?
Tourist tax in Barcelona
The tourist tax or green tax in Barcelona is a special case because it has an extra municipal charge in addition to the existing eco-tax, as shown in the following table.
| Type of establishment (Barcelona city) |
General rate (since 01.04.2023 |
Extra municipal charge (since 01.04.2023 until 31.03.2024) |
Total fee |
| 5-star hotel, luxury hotel, luxury campsite and equivalent category establishment or equipment (EB1 |
3,50 € |
4,00 € |
7,50 € |
| 4-star and 4-star superior hotel, and establishment or facility of equivalent |
1,70 € |
4,00 € |
5,70 € |
| Residential for tourist use (EB4) |
2,25 € |
4,00 € |
6,25 € |
| Other establishments and facilities (EB3) |
1,00 € |
4,00 € |
5,00 € |
Cruising boat
– More than 12 hours (CR1)
– 12 hours or less (CR2) |
2,00 €
3,00 € |
4,00 € |
6,00 €
7,00 € |
Municipal charge tax of Barcelona will be 4 € from 01.10.2024.
Tourist tax for the rest of Catalonia
| General rate. Rest of Catalonia |
Rates since 01.04.2023 |
| 5-star hotel, luxury hotel, luxury campsite and equivalent category establishment or equipment (ET1) |
3,00 € |
| 4-star and 4-star superior hotel, and establishment or facility of equivalent category (ET2) |
1,20 € |
| Residential for tourist use (ET4) |
1,00 € |
| Other establishments and facilities (ET3) |
0,60 € |
Cruising boat
– More than 12 hours (CR3)
– 12 hours or less (CR4)
|
2,00 €
3,00 € |
Special green tax in Catalonia
The special rate is applied for stays in establishments that are inside a tourist recreation center or are located in areas where games of chance and gambling activities are allowed.
| Special fee |
Rates since 01.04.2017 |
| 5-star hotel, luxury hotel, luxury campsite and equivalent category establishment or equipment (TE1) |
5,00 € |
| 4-star and 4-star superior hotel, and establishment or facility of equivalent category (TE2) |
3,50 € |
| Other establishments and facilities (TE3) |
2,50 € |
2.2. Who pays the green tax in Catalonia?
The tourist tax in Catalonia will be applied to people who stay in:
- The tourist accommodations established at all times by the current regulations on tourism.
- The youth hostels, when they provide tourist services of lodging.
- Tourist cruise ships. It is understood by tourist cruise ships the one that makes transport by sea or navigable routes with the only purpose of pleasure or recreation, completed with other services and with a stay on board superior to two nights, according to the norm of the European Union.
- Any establishment or equipment in which tourist accommodation services are provided.
2.3. Who doesn’t pay the green tax in Catalonia?
The application of the green tax in Catalonia is an exception for:
- Stays that are subsidized by social programs of a public administration of any Member State of the European Union.
- Persons under or equal to sixteen years old.
- Stays due to reasons of force majeure, as determined by regulation. Force majeure is understood as events in the territory of Catalonia that cannot be anticipated or that could have been anticipated but were inevitable, such as natural disasters or acts of violence.
- Stays made by any person for health reasons, as well as the accompanying persons
- To apply this exemption, it must be documented that the stay responds to this need.
3. Tourist tax in Balearic Islands
3.1. How much is the tourist tax in the Balearic Islands?
The green tax in Majorca and the rest of Balearic Islands depends on the type of establishment, as shown in the following table.
| Types of tourist establishments |
Euros/day of stay or fraction the reof |
| Five-star,five-star deluxe and four-star superior hotels, city hotels and apartment hotels |
4€ |
| Four-star and three-star superior hotels, city hotels, apartment hotels |
3€ |
| One-star and two-star superior hotels, city hotels and apartment hotels |
2€ |
| Four-key and four-key superior tourist apartments |
4€ |
| Three-key superior tourist apartments |
3€ |
| One, two and three key tourist apartments |
2€ |
| Non-residential lodging establishments of tourist-residential companies |
4€ |
| Tourist vacation homes, homes for the commercialization of tourist stays and homes for tourist commercialization |
2€ |
| Rustic hotels, rural hotels, agrotourism, inns and interior tourism lodgings |
2€ |
| Hostels, boarding houses, pensions, inns and guest houses, tourist camping or camping |
1€ |
| Hostels and shelters |
1€ |
| Other establishments or dwellings for tourism |
2€ |
| Tourist cruise ships |
2€ |
3.2. Who pays the tourist tax in Balearic Islands?
The eco-tax or tourist tax in the Balearic Islands is applied to the persons who lodge in the following tourist properties:
- The hotels of one, two, three, four and five stars.
- The hotels, apartments of one, two, three, four and five stars.
- Tourist apartments of one, two, three and four keys.
- Tourist vacation homes.
- The “campings” or tourist camps.
- The rural hotels.
- The establishments of interior tourism and agritourism.
- The other establishments that, in agreement with the Law 2/1999, of March 24, General Tourist of the Balearic Islands, have the consideration of a tourist company of lodging.
- Those to which, by Law, this condition is attributed to them.
3.3. Who doesn’t pay the tourist tax in Balearic Islands?
Exceptions:
- Children up to twelve years of age.
- Stays subsidized by social programs of a Public Administration of any Member State of the European Union.
- Stays due to force majeure, force majeure will be understood to be events occurring in the territory of the Balearic Islands that cannot be foreseen or that could have been foreseen but were inevitable, particularly natural catastrophes and violent acts.
- Stays for trips for health care, will be applicable to patients and their accompanying persons who spend the night in a tourist establishment located outside the territory of the health area where the tax domicile is located. In order to apply this exemption, the corresponding documentation must be submitted.
4. FAQs about green and tourism tax in Spain
4.1. How to pay the tourist tax in Spain?
The tourism tax or eco-tax is a fee charged by lodging companies to individuals. Its collection must be delivered to the corresponding tax agency; these must be accounted for lodging companies before the deadline established by this institution.
The corresponding tax agencies in the Spanish regions are:
- Balearic Islands: Tax Agency of the Balearic Islands (ATIB).
- Catalonia: Tax Agency of Catalonia (ATC)
4.2. What happens if I don’t pay the green tax for hospitality?
The penalty for not paying the green tax, not paying it in the established deadlines or not paying it correctly, includes fines in both Catalonia and the Balearic Islands.
4.3. How to automate the process of collecting the tourism tax or green tax?
As many usual processes, this tax is collected in the traditional way, with paperwork and time at the reception, many tourist establishments are still ignoring that they could dedicate their time to what really matters.
At Civitfun we provide you with tools that allow you to automate everything from check-in to check-out, including the collection of the eco-tax or tourist tax.
With our online check-in tool you will be able to:
- Automate the calculation of the eco-tax according to the guest’s data and the regulations governing the property.
- Ask your guests to pay the eco-tax prior to their arrival, during or at check-out in a fast and secure way thanks to payment protection.
- Save your reception staff time and costs on paper and ink.
