British tourists may have to pay new tourism taxes in Spain after the latest crackdown on holiday rentals. The Spanish government is seeking parliamentary approval for a 21% tax on short-term leave as it attempts to tackle the housing crisis.
Currently, there are no taxes on holiday home rentals for less than 30 days, but the new plan will double the tax on hotel rooms, which are currently set at 10%. This could affect a huge number of tourists, as one-third of the 94 million visitors to Spain annually chose to rent a home in a hotel room last year.
Housing Minister Isabel Rodriguez said on Friday, “Because the house is living…the measure seeks to guarantee the rights to rental housing for families.”
A report from the Bank of Spain this week said 450,000 homes are in the red for the country. It revealed that half of the residential stocks in the Canary and Balearic Islands are either tourist accommodation or homes owned by non-residents.
This situation has led locals to struggle to find affordable housing, and landlords opt for more profitable holiday rentals.
The country's prime minister, Pedro Sanchez, said in January that non-EU residents had purchased 27,000 property in 2023.
“The sole purpose is to end these activities and leave (tourism) in the hands of hoteliers,” said Javier Peñate, legal counsel for the Canary Islands Holiday Home Owners Association.
The British homeowner in Tenerife told the bulletin that he would not mind paying taxes if the Spanish island of Tenerife became as busy as Cornwall.
However, Apartur, the Barcelona tourist apartment owners' association, called 21% VAT discrimination, claiming that short-term rentals should pay the same VAT as hotels.
The bill includes a controversial measure first announced in January, which will allow non-European union citizens to tax up to 100% on their second operating property purchases.
