Barcelona definitively approves the tourist surcharge of eight euros per night

The Plenary of the Barcelona Municipal Council definitively approved on September 25, 2026, the modification of Fiscal Ordinance 2.2 regulating the surcharge on the tax on stays in tourist establishments. The agreement resolves the claims filed against the provisional approval of June 26, 2026, and is published in the Official Gazette of the Province of Barcelona on September 29, 2026, with the reference CVE 202610144929 and a length of four pages. The regulation sets a surcharge of up to 8 euros per night depending on the category of the establishment and scales its application between 2026 and 2028.

The surcharge is framed within chapter V of Law 5/2020, of March 29, which enables the Barcelona City Council to establish by municipal ordinance a surcharge on the “Barcelona city” rates up to a maximum amount of eight euros per category, in accordance with Decree-laws 6/2025 and 10/2025. Law 2/2026, of March 6, adds the category of youth hostels as a differentiated type of establishment. The power to demand the tax is supported by article 38.2 of RDL 2/2004, the revised text of the Law regulating local treasuries, and was confirmed by the Constitutional Court in Judgment 125/2021, of June 3. The regulatory precedent for the tax is Law 5/2012, of March 20, revised by Law 5/2017, of March 28, and deployed by Decree 141/2017, of September 19.

Approved rates

The amount of the surcharge is determined according to the type of establishment or tourist facility where the stay occurs, with or without overnight stay:

• 5-star hotels, grand luxury, luxury campsites, and establishments of equivalent category: 8.00 €.
• 4-star and 4-star superior hotels and equivalent establishments: 8.00 €.
• Tourist rental homes: 8.00 €.
• Youth hostels: 4.00 €.
• Other campsites and other establishments and facilities: 8.00 €.
• Cruise ships, whether the stay exceeds 12 hours or not: 8.00 €.

The tax quota is obtained by multiplying the number of stays by the corresponding amount.

Progressive application calendar

The transitional provision establishes an implementation period between 2026 and 2028, with a gradual increase until the quota of article 2.2 is reached, with the exception of youth hostels:

• 2026: 5 €, from April 1, 2026, to March 31, 2027.
• 2027: 6 €, from April 1, 2027, to March 31, 2028.
• 2028: 7 €, from April 1, 2028, to March 31, 2029.

The ordinance enters into force and begins to be applied from its publication in the BOPB and, in any case, from the first settlement period of the surcharge. The revenues are not integrated into the Fund for the Promotion of Tourism and, therefore, are not allocated to the purposes of this fund.

Destination of funds and tourist pressure

The agreement of the Municipal Council of September 30, 2019 establishes the purposes of the surcharge collection:

• Improve control over dwellings that lease rooms for tourist use.
• Improve the quality of life for residents of the neighborhoods most affected by tourist pressure.
• Create new content in settings that encourage tourist decentralization.

The preamble of the regulation estimates the city’s floating population at an average of approximately 154,000 people, an additional 9.6% over the resident population, with a very marked territorial concentration in some neighborhoods. This reality generates an excess cost in public services that the funds from the stay tax help to alleviate.

A contentious-administrative appeal may be filed directly against the agreement within a period of two calendar months from the day following its publication. The announcement was signed by the general secretary, Jordi Cases i Pallarès, in Barcelona on September 25, 2026.

Source: Official Gazette of the Province of Barcelona, no. 29-9-2026, Local Administration, pp. 1-4 (official reference: CVE 202610144929).