The city of Barcelona, the capital of the autonomous region of Catalonia in northeastern Spain, has decided to double the tourist tax.
Barcelona doubles tourist tax.
However, some services in Europe remain expensive. For example, a trip to Barcelona, Spain, in the near future could cost up to 15 euros per night, after the city raised its tourist fees to the highest level in Europe. This is part of an effort to limit the number of tourists and address the city's housing crisis.
The Catalan regional parliament (Spain) yesterday approved a law doubling the tax on hotel guests in Barcelona starting in April. The current tax of 5-7.5 euros will be increased to a maximum of 10-15 euros per night, depending on the hotel category. Barcelona also announced plans to ban all forms of short-term rentals by 2028. These measures aim to address public concerns about the excessive number of tourists, which is driving up housing prices due to increased demand for short-term rentals.
Before the tax increase, Barcelona ranked 11th in the 2025 ranking of the holiday rental platform Holidu. Amsterdam topped the list, where tourists paid the highest tax in Europe, around 18.45 euros per day.
Hotel owners have expressed concerns that the tax increase could cause a large portion of Barcelona's approximately 15.8 million visitors each year to divert to other destinations. According to the local tourism council, Barcelona is among the top four cities in the world for hosting conferences, and attendees of these events are not exempt from the tax.