Overview
- Parliament passed the reform with 68 votes from PSC, ERC and Comuns, 63 against from Junts, PP, Vox and Aliança Catalana, and four CUP abstentions.
- Barcelona’s base rates double on April 1, 2026—five‑star hotels rise from €3.5 to €7 per person and night—with the city’s surcharge moving to €5 this year and allowed to climb to €8 by 2029.
- Across the rest of Catalonia, rates rise in April 2026 and complete the full doubling in April 2027, while municipalities can now add local surcharges up to €4 under set caps.
- The Generalitat projects annual receipts to increase from roughly €100 million to about €200 million once the changes are fully implemented.
- Hotel groups and right‑of‑center parties warn of competitiveness risks, with Barcelona’s hotel guild citing potential damage to GDP, even as city data show tourist‑tax income to the council jumped 39% in 2025 to €148 million.