Arakaldó has definitively approved the new tourist stay tax

The Arakaldo City Council has definitively approved the fiscal ordinance establishing a new tax on tourist stays, and the full text was published in issue number 171 of the Boletín Oficial de Bizkaia on September 8, 2026. The ordinance implements the tax created by Norma Foral 3/2026 (of June 17) and will take effect from January 1, 2027.

The regulation is based on article 120.1 d) of Norma Foral 9/2005 (of the local treasury of Bizkaia) and Norma Foral 3/2026. The provisional approval of the ordinance was published in issue number 129 of the BOB on July 9, 2026, and, as no claims were filed after the public exhibition period, it has become definitive, according to article 16.3 of Norma Foral 9/2005. The document was signed by Mayor Humberto Perea Añibarro in Arakaldo on August 31, 2026.

Tax Base and Rates

The subjective taxable event is the stay in accommodation establishments, based on days or fractions thereof, whether overnight or not. The tax base is determined by the number of stay-units for each continuous stay, where each unit is one day or a fraction of a day. A maximum of 6 stay-units will be computed per traveler for each continuous stay.

Rates are established according to the type of establishment, in euros per stay-unit:

5-star hotels or equivalent: 4.50 €
4-star hotels or equivalent: 3.50 €
3-star hotels or equivalent: 1.50 €
2-star hotels or equivalent: 1.00 €
1-star hotels or equivalent: 0.75 €
Pensions, campgrounds, country houses, and hostels: 0.75 €
Tourist apartments and other accommodation establishments: 1.50 €
Agrotourism: 0.50 €
Housing for tourist use (entirely or as a rental): 4.50 €

Exemptions

The ordinance includes several exemptions, among others: stays subsidized through tourist social programs organized by public administrations of the European Union or the European Economic Area; stays of persons under 18 years of age; those of persons with a disability of 65% or more or Grade II or III dependency (with one assistant); those carried out for studies, academic research, or talent programs; those for health reasons; and those carried out due to unavoidable causes. To apply for exemptions, documentation and, in many cases, a responsible declaration must be submitted.

Management and Payment

The taxpayers are the persons who make the stay, and the holders of the establishment’s operation act as substitutes, having the obligation to collect and liquidate the tax. The self-assessment must be submitted electronically on a quarterly basis, and if each substitute has several establishments, a consolidated payment may be made. Establishments will be identified in the Registry of Tourism Enterprises and Activities of the Basque Country (REATE).

The tax is generated at the beginning of the stay, and it is the responsibility of the substitute to collect it from the taxpayer before the stay ends. The ordinance will be applied from January 1, 2027, but it will not be requested for stays reserved before February 5, 2026. This measure will strengthen Arakaldo’s municipal revenues as compensation for the impact of tourism activity, and follows the same path already implemented by other municipalities in Bizkaia.

Fuente: Official Gazette of Bizkaia, number 171, September 8, 2026, section II, pp. 4-5. (official reference: BOB-2026a171-(II-4683)).