Overview
- Gipuzkoa’s provincial government plans to approve its draft regulation at the March 17 Consejo de Gobierno, according to the diputada general’s prior announcement and finance department sources.
- Bizkaia’s diputada general Elixabete Etxanobe says the provincial executive will give initial approval in April to a draft enabling a visitor levy.
- The Bizkaia text would permit municipalities to charge up to €7.50 per visitor per day, with local discretion based on tourism intensity.
- Both drafts must be ratified by their respective Juntas Generales before towns can modify ordinances, with Gipuzkoa’s vote not expected before June and requiring at least some opposition support.
- Once Bizkaia’s regulation receives final clearance, municipalities would have six months to set rates, and San Sebastián’s mayor has expressed hope to apply the levy this summer subject to the legislative timeline.