Sabadell definitively approves the tourist surcharge and will apply it starting in October

Sabadell will apply a municipal surcharge on the tax on stays in tourist establishments after tax ordinance 2.6 was definitively approved. The full text is published in the Official Gazette of the Province of Barcelona on September 18, 2026, with the CVE reference 202610141874 and spanning six pages, and will enter into force on the first day of the settlement period immediately following publication, that is, October 1, 2026, provided that the agreement with the Tax Agency of Catalonia has been signed.

Approval without claims

The Municipal Plenary, in an ordinary session on July 27, 2026, provisionally approved the establishment of the surcharge and its regulation through tax ordinance 2.6. The file was open to the public for 30 business days following the publication of an edict in the Official Gazette of the Province of Barcelona and on the municipal notice board on July 29, 2026, and in the newspaper El Periódico on July 30, 2026. Since no claims were filed, the provisional agreement became definitive on September 15, 2026, without the need for a new plenary agreement, in accordance with article 17.3 of Royal Legislative Decree 2/2004, of March 5, which approves the Revised Text of the Law regulating local treasuries.

The edict is signed by Montserrat González Ruiz, Deputy Mayor of the Area of Economy and Central Services, in Sabadell on September 17, 2026. The surcharge has the status of public law income and the nature of a surcharge on a tax belonging to the Generalitat de Catalunya, and responds to the need to strengthen local financing for the costs generated by tourist activity in the municipality. It is based on articles 2.1.b) and 38.2 of the TRLRHL and article 34 ter of Law 5/2017, of March 28.

Rates according to the type of establishment

The quota is obtained by multiplying the number of stays, with a maximum of seven stay units per person, by the corresponding tax rate. The planned rates are:

• Five-star hotel, grand luxury, luxury camping, and equivalent establishments: 4.00 euros.
• Four-star and four-star superior hotel: 1.80 euros until March 30, 2027, and 2.40 euros from April 1, 2027.
• Tourist accommodation: 1.75 euros until March 30, 2027, and 2.50 euros thereafter.
• Youth hostels: 0.80 euros and 1.00 euro.
• Other campsites and other establishments and facilities: 0.90 euros and 1.20 euros.

In the case of advance booking of accommodation, the rate in force at the time of booking applies, provided that the booking amount and the tax, including the surcharge, are paid.

Exemptions, taxpayers, and management

Stays subsidized by social programs of a public administration of any member state of the European Union, those of persons sixteen years of age or younger, those motivated by force majeure, and those made for health reasons, as well as those of the persons accompanying them, shall be exempt. No other exemption or discount shall apply.

• Taxpayers are the natural persons who make the stay and the legal entities in whose name the invoice or similar document is issued.
• The owners of the establishments are the taxpayer substitutes, who may claim the amount of the surcharge paid.
• Management, inspection, and collection correspond to the Tax Agency of Catalonia, which will transfer the collected amounts once the management service fee has been deducted.

Semi-annual settlements and means of appeal

Two semi-annual settlement periods are established: from April 1 to September 30 and from October 1 to March 31 of the following year. The self-assessment is submitted electronically between October 1 and 20 and between April 1 and 20, respectively, and does not need to be submitted when no amount is due for payment.

Against acts of management, inspection, and collection, an optional appeal for reversal or an economic-administrative claim may be filed before the Finance Board. Against the approval agreement, which exhausts the administrative route, a contentious-administrative appeal may be filed before the Contentious-Administrative Chamber of the High Court of Justice of Catalonia within a period of two months starting from the day after the publication of the edict.

The surcharge affects hotels, campsites, tourist accommodation homes, youth hostels, and any establishment or facility providing tourist accommodation services within the municipal district of Sabadell, and represents an increase per night of stay that the establishments must pass on and settle semi-annually. The measure reinforces the council’s own fiscal capacity and arrives with the autumn period already underway, such that the first effective payment will correspond to the settlement from April 1 to 20, 2027.

Source: Official Gazette of the Province of Barcelona, September 18, 2026, Local Administration, pp. 1-6 (official reference: CVE 202610141874).