A new tourist tax is coming. It will be more expensive in this European city
Tourist taxes are becoming an increasing nightmare for tourists, but they allow state authorities to start businesses and take care of the interests of residents. Another city will introduce a special fee. This time in Portugal.
Portugal is one of the most recognizable countries in Europe chosen for holiday trips and weekend city breaks. Although it is mainly associated with Lisbon, it has many other attractive and beautiful cities in store. One of them is Peniche, which is becoming more and more popular among tourists. This is why the authorities took a radical step.
Portuguese city with a new tourist tax
The introduction of new tourist taxes in popular places surprises few people anymore. Recently, such information has been reported, among others, in Iceland, where visitors trample iconic areas. Fees have also been introduced many times, including: in France or Spain – for example, Barcelona wants additional fees in restaurants. Now it’s time for Portugal. According to foreign media reports, it will be much more expensive in one of the cities.
The authorities of the small town of Peniche decided to make changes. Although it is not as recognizable as, for example, Porto, it is very popular with tourists. They can count there, among others: to charming streets, beautiful beaches and perfect surfing conditions. The new tax will be one euro per person per night in hotels, guesthouses, apartments, guest houses, resorts and even campsites.
The authorities voted. Since when are the changes?
Local politicians did not create a new tax without specific goals. They emphasize that it is intended to compensate for the increase in the number of tourists in the town. The fee is intended to mitigate the social and environmental impact on infrastructure. Thanks to it, the city will not notice any harm to the competitiveness of the commune in the context of the region.
The idea has already been voted on at the city council meeting. The rules are to come into force, but no one has presented a specific date yet. It can be suspected that everything will come into force in the next holiday season. Before this happens, the regulation is to be subject to public consultations.
A new tax in a Portuguese city will probably not be considered strange. This country already has, among others, in Lisbon, Porto, Faro, Vila Real de Santo António and Sintra. Many other European cities have very similar ideas, and we will definitely hear about many of them very soon.
