Carlos Garrido on cruise tax: shortsighted and dangerous
Carlos Garrido, acting president of the Tourism Board, has nailed it: the proposal to hike the municipal surcharge on transit cruise passengers in Barcelona from 8 to 24 euros is a textbook mistake. As Nexotur reports, Garrido warns that such a measure «could seriously reduce Barcelona's competitiveness as one of the main Mediterranean cruise ports».
And he is right. Cruises do have an impact, sure, but jacking up the tax by 200% overnight isn't tourism management, it's fiscal punishment. While other Mediterranean ports rub their hands together, Barcelona is putting a noose around its own neck. The Tourism Board does well to speak up: this tax doesn't just penalize the passenger, it drives away calls, investment and jobs. Let's hope city officials listen before signing their own tourism decline.
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