Barcelona and other Catalan tourist destinations could soon charge visitors up to €15 (£12.39) per person, per night in tourist tax.
The potential doubling of the current rate would make Barcelona's tourist tax the highest in Europe, overtaking Paris and Rome, which charge up to €11.38 (£9.40) and €10 (£8.26) per night respectively.
The Catalan government signed an agreement last Thursday, allowing Barcelona and resorts in Catalonia to double the current tourist tax.
Barcelona mayor Jaume Collboni confirmed the Catalan capital will increase the tax and promised the implementation would be "thoughtful and reasonable".
Tourists will now have to pay up to €15 (£12.39) to stay in Barcelona
GETTY
The mayor did not specify when the increase will take place but indicated it "should be a debate to have when preparing next year's spending".
Barcelona currently charges guests in four-star hotels €5.70 (£4.71) per night, while five-star hotel guests pay €7.50 (£6.20).
Other popular Catalan resorts such as Salou, Tarragona, Lloret de Mar and Sitges could also increase their tourist tax.
Parliamentary spokesperson for the left-wing Comuns party, David Cid, defended the tax increase as a "proportionate and fair" measure.
David told Spanish radio network Cadena Ser: "A person who comes to Catalonia paying €400 (£330.51) or €500 (£413.14) for a night in a hotel can pay €7 (£5.78) more.
"We have a record number of tourists, and the new figures we are talking about for the tax do not impose any limits."
President of the Costa Brava-Pirineu de Girona tourist apartments' association Esther Torrent told the Catalan News Agency: "When visitors travel in a family, these taxes need to be multiplied by four or five people, with the cost that this will mean to families."
The Barcelona Hotel Association condemned the decision and demanded the tax be used to improve tourism infrastructure. It noted that at least 25 per cent of money raised should be allocated to housing.
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS
Mass protests emerged across Barcelona and several other Spanish cities last year
GETTYThe new proposal comes after protests were seen across Spain last year, with locals claiming "tourists" were forcing them out of their towns.
GB News readers have reacted to the ongoing tourist taxes, rules and regulations being implemented in Spain.
One user wrote: "I found the Spanish people I met one year ago to be very rude and arrogant, I shall never go there again. We left early and went to Portugal where they were the exact opposite."
Reacting to Spanish city Malaga, implementing a three-year ban on the registration of new holiday rentals, one reader said: "I don't blame the Spanish at all. The very same thing has completely ruined villages and towns across Cornwall, Devon and large amounts of Scotland. I can only speak from experience, these three places have been devastated by holiday lets and second homes."
