Tuesday, March 18, 2014

The Department of Tourism announces that the nautical tax will be suppressed in 2015

The Balearic Minister of Tourism and Sports, Jaime Martinez, is confident that the State will withdraw in 2015 the navigation tax (popularly known as the lighthouse tax) included in the Royal Decree 1/2014. This reform regarding the infrastructures, transport and other economic measures was approved by the Council of Ministers on the 24th of January and ratified by the Congress in February. The measure, which establishes an 128% increase in the lighthouse tax, is considered by the Balearic yacht clubs and tourist marinas as the "biggest fiscal blow" of the recent years.

Martinez visited Ibiza yesterday and had a meeting with - apart from the principal tourism and economic authorities of the island - also with the nautical associations, which he informed had to wait until the next year before the Government withdraws this fiscal measure: "I transferred our concern not only over this tax, but over an increase of any other tax to the State Secretary of Tourism (Isabel Borrego), and she told me they are already working on the elimination", assured the Minister of Tourism yesterday after a meeting with the Chairman of the Council, Vicent Serra and the department heads of Tourism, Culture and Sports of this island institution.

However, the tax will be collected during the current year, Martinez pointed out. "This increase will possibly be eliminated next year, as it is already included in the State budget this year", he underlined.

The Minister reaffirmed the commitment of the Balearic Government to transfer the tourism promotion to the four island councils in 2015: "The  technical planning group - he commented - is currently working on to make the transfer of tourism promotion possible next year". The group is analyzing "both the existing resources as well as the percentages to be applied. It is still too early to predict the outcome", he added. This group consists of the representatives of the Balearic Government and the four island councils, which was criticized by Formentera: "If the rules say that in the planning commission should participate all the councils and the government, then so be it. But legally all the concerned agents that are objects of this transfer should participate". Martinez, however, is not sure whether the biggest of the islands (Mallorca) will eventually snub off this competency, so desired by Ibiza: "It will be at the end of the commission process, after the planning group has presented their proposal, when the Council of Mallorca - just like the other councils - will decide whether they will accept this transfer. It is true that they have hinted that they may not do it, but for the moment the process continues as if they are going accept".

Roberto Hortensius, the president of the Federation of Hoteliers in Ibiza was surprised that despite being questioned by the sector, Martinez didn´t specify "up to which point Ibiza will be independent from Mallorca after the transfer is carried out".

Read the complete article in Diario de Ibiza.

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