With the purpose safeguarding and preserving the magnificent habitat that characterizes the island of Formentera, the Government of the Balearic has decided to introduce, starting this year, a new tax that will have to be paid by all the tourists that will come to this corner of heaven.
Particularly, it has been conceived to face the consequences of tourism on the environment, on the infrastructures and on the services. It will begin to be applied starting from the 1st of July. A similar tax had already been introduced fifteen years ago, but then was removed. The new tax differs from the previous one under three substantial aspects:
- Firstly in the name, since it is now called “tax for sustainable tourism” while in the past “ecotax.”
- Secondly for the destination of the money: in the past they flew in a unique fund and the Government employed it to liquidate pending debts, while it is being anticipated now that is destined to touristic and environmental projects.
- Finally, the qualified collection institution: in the beginning hoteliers were entrusted to collect the taxes from the tourists and, even if it will be so also this year, the Pact doesn't exclude that in the future it could also be entrusted to harbors and airports, as initially foreseen.
As for the costs, from the
1st of June to the 31st of September (high season) the tax will be 1€ per day per person and it will be halved after the eighth day of staying. Also in
low season the price will be halved to 0.50€ per day per person. To the taxable will be applied a 10% VAT share.
The
people exempted from the payment are those who are part of one of the following categories:
- People younger than 16 years
- Travelers that arrive with programs of the third age
- Relatives of people with medical conditions that ask for the possibility of moving among the islands for the treatment of the illness.
Also residents will pay the tax as any other tourist in the case they’ll spend their holidays in an island of the Balearic different from the one of residency
Besides Cataluña, in the other places with taxes of this kind, there are very different tourist offers from the Balearic ones. It normally involves important urban destinations such as Brussels, Florence or Paris, that have nothing to do with the sun and the beaches that characterize our archipelago. As stated by the autonomous Government: << The entrances derived from this tribute will be aimed to “
to stimulate the sustainable tourism” and the “maintenance of the natural spaces” >>. A parliamentary commission with representation of the different political parties, category associations and trade unions will be appointed to to determine the final destination of the funds.
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