Tourism tax plan for Malaga on Spain’s Costa del Sol quashed by mayor

MAYOR of Malaga Francisco De la Torre has quashed suggestions for a tourist tax on hotels and cruise liners. 

Speaking before a meeting of the Tourism Forum in the Costa del Sol capital he said that there is no “clear” consensus for such a move and as such it “is not in the priorities of the governing team.” 

This statement comes in response to the Councillor for Tourism, Rosa Sanchez, who recently said that the council was considering a daily tax on tourists’ stays in the city. 

But De la Torre has said that any such plan has now been “parked.” He said: “Meetings are always good, we must exchange views, but it is an issue that the sector does not see clearly and we do not want to move forward without a clear consensus. It is an issue on which we can turn the page, leave it as closed.” 

He added that while all issues are open to be reopened, thin the case of a tourism tax “right now, I insist, there is no clear consensus and there is no will on our part to move forward on this issue.” 

Nicolás Sguiglia, from the Adelante Málaga political party, is the one who brought a proposal for a tourist tax. 

According to his studies, based on data from other cities that already apply such a tax, Malaga council could collect up to €4 million a year via a daily charge on hotel rooms and cruise passengers, which he said could be spent on tourism infrastructure, security and cleaning services.