Navaridas approves the tourist tax with rates of up to 4.50 euros per night

The Plenary of the Navaridas City Council definitively approved on November 3, 2026, the fiscal ordinance regulating the Tourist Stay Tax, after dismissing the claim submitted during the public exhibition period. The text is signed by the mayor Mikel Fernández Calleja and is published in full in the Official Gazette of the Historical Territory of Álava no. 130, of November 11, 2026 (reference 2026-03199). The regulation requires hotels, guesthouses, rural houses, hostels, and tourist accommodations in the municipality to pass the tax on to their visitors starting January 1, 2027.

The process began on August 25, 2026, when the City Council initially approved the ordinance in an ordinary session and submitted it for public information for thirty days. During that period, a claim was filed, which was dismissed, necessitating the elevation of the agreement to definitive status in the Plenary on November 3. The City Council acts under article 22.1.d) of the Foral Regulatory Decree 1/2021, of September 29, which approves the consolidated text of the Foral Law on Local Treasuries of Álava, and develops Foral Law 13/2026, of June 10, regulating the Tourist Stay Tax. The publication complies with article 70.2 of Law 7/1985, of April 2, regulating the Bases of Local Regime.

Rates from 0.50 to 4.50 euros per stay unit

The tax levies each day or fraction of a day of continuous stay in the same accommodation, with or without overnight stay, and stays of less than twenty-four hours count as a single unit. The applicable rates, in euros per unit, are:

• Five-star hotels and tourist accommodations, leased entirely or by room: 4.50 euros
• Four-star hotels: 3.50 euros
• Three-star hotels, tourist apartments, and other tourist accommodations: 1.50 euros
• Two-star hotels: 1.00 euro
• One-star hotels, guesthouses, campsites, rural houses, and hostels: 0.75 euros
• Agritourism: 0.50 euros

In all cases, the calculation is limited to a maximum of six stay units per taxpayer and continuous stay, such that no stay can accumulate more than six taxed nights in the same establishment.

Accommodations, obliged to pass on and self-assess

The taxable person is the individual staying, but the ordinance makes the business owner the substitute for the taxpayer: they are the one who must demand the tax before the end of the stay and who is responsible for the formal obligations. Unless proven otherwise, the person registered in the Registry of Tourism Companies and Activities of Euskadi (REATE) is presumed to be the business owner.

• The self-assessment is submitted electronically on a quarterly basis, within 25 calendar days following the close of each quarter.
• Operators of multiple establishments may group the payment into a single self-assessment.
• Those who directly contract the stays or act as intermediaries in the reservation or collection are jointly and severally liable.
• Management, inspection, and collection are the responsibility of the City Council, under the sanctioning regime of Foral Norm 6/2005, General Taxation of Álava.

Six exemption scenarios

The ordinance details the cases in which the tax does not apply, all conditional upon documentary accreditation or a responsible declaration:

• Stays subsidized by social programs for tourism purposes from administrations of the European Union or the European Economic Area.
• Stays of persons under eighteen years of age.
• Persons with a disability of 65% or higher or grade II or III dependency, along with a maximum of one companion per beneficiary.
• Stays for studies up to the third university cycle, academic research, or talent programs from the administrations of the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country.
• Stays for health reasons, with a maximum of one companion.
• Stays due to force majeure, including the impossibility of inhabiting the usual residence due to works or accidents.

Effective from January 1, 2027

The ordinance enters into force the day following its publication in the Official Gazette of the Historical Territory of Álava, but takes effect from January 1, 2027. The first final provision introduces an exception: the tax will not be enforceable for stays whose reservation was made before February 5, 2026. The Mayor’s Office is authorized to approve the self-assessment models and responsible declarations that justify the exemptions.

Navaridas thus joins the group of Álava municipalities that apply the tourist tax enabled by foral regulations, with a scheme that transfers the administrative burden of the tax to the accommodations and leaves the final cost in the hands of the visitor. For a small municipality, the new income represents a financing route linked to tourism activity, although its yield will depend on the actual volume of overnight stays declared by the establishments within the municipal district.

Source: Official Gazette of the Historical Territory of Álava, no. 130, November 11, 2026, section II - Local Administration of the Historical Territory of Álava, p. 1 (official reference: 2026-03199).