Tourism is on the pulse after the (forced) halt of the pandemic. Demand is increasing, the flow of passengers from other countries is increasing and, above all, debates are heating up about whether to impose limits on tourism and, if so, which ones. The Canary Islands set a good example. Cantabria is the other. They are far from the flow of tourists supported by the Atlantic archipelago, the Balearic Islands or Catalonia to the north, but the impact already made by the influx of visitors, especially in certain environments of special heritage and environmental interest, has further fueled this region. contention.

Against this background, there is an idea that has been heard loudly for the last few months and was put into action in October: giving the green light to a tourism tax.

“Avoid overcrowding”. That was the aim of a series of initiatives proposed by socialists in the Cantabrian Parliament at the beginning of the month. In presenting these, PSOE spokesman Pablo Zuloaga insisted that the regional government take measures to “mitigate the consequences of the increase in visitors” from a social and environmental perspective. To this end, a number of measures have been proposed to “prevent overcrowding of tourists” in three sensitive areas, the redwood forest of Cabezón de la Sal, the dunes of Puntal de Somo and the Caballo lighthouse, due to their success among travelers. From Santoña.

Tourist tax? The leader of the PSC-PSOE put forward another idea: giving councils the scope to impose a tourism-oriented tax. In this way, he reasoned, visitors would contribute “a grain of sand” to guarantee the protection of the environment and pay for public services. “We demand that the government work on a legal framework that allows municipalities to develop this tourism tax to increase revenue and therefore improve the services we offer.”

This isn’t the first time this idea has been brought to the table. In the spring, Zuloaga already emphasized the urgency of creating a “legal framework” that allows the implementation of a “tourist eco-tax”, among other measures such as developing a “new decree regulating caravans”. The aim: to follow in the footsteps of other regions that impose similar tolls, such as the Balearic Islands or Catalonia, which are also implemented in other countries. There are more regions in Spain where the debate is on the public agenda or is currently in the spotlight, such as Euskadi, Asturias or the Valencian Community.

That same weekend, Zuloaga insisted again during an interview: Newspaper Allowing municipal councils to levy an “environmental tax on the arrival of visitors” in a phased manner and based on type of business and time. “We want to charge a fee to visit Cantabria,” he summarized.

Argument presented (and guaranteed). The proposal caused controversy in Cantabria, but it remained limited to that for now. Argument. A few weeks ago, PP and Vox defeated the socialists’ initiative in the Cantabrian Parliament and rejected the imposition of a tourist tax on the community. In his opinion, the measure advocated by the PSOE is “unnecessary”, “not very stringent” and has a clear “collective purpose”. They do not see this as justified, among other reasons, because they note that at least today Cantabria “does not face the problem of oversaturation.”

Again, not a big surprise. Months ago, the popularly-led regional government had already made it clear that they rejected the implementation of an environmental tax on visitors. “This is not an issue we are focusing on at the moment. It is a debate that has always existed, but we did not take it into consideration,” the Minister of Tourism said in May. he said. The stance of both sides ensures that the debate will remain lively. Following the parliamentary veto, Zuloaga regretted the “missed opportunity” and insisted on the benefits that, in his opinion, the implementation of an eco tax would bring.

The other side of tourism. We told you about this recently. Cantabria is far from an influx of visitors from the Balearic Islands, Canary Islands, Catalonia or Andalusia, but data for August, for example, reveals a noticeable increase in visitors. The flow of tourists to hotel establishments (there are other categories, such as tourist apartments) increased by 5.3% compared to 2023, marking the best August since at least 1999, the first year documented by the statistical observatory.

The summer was also marked by a controversy closely related to the influx of visitors: the degradation and current state of the redwood forest of Cabezón de la Sal, a unique area where 800 people pass daily in the summer, with torn trunks, alarmed environmentalists.

A great tourist success requires: A significant challenge for governments. In Cabezón de la Sal, the City Council is looking for a way to control bus access by implementing a pre-booking system that can accommodate 300 to 350 people each day. He’s not the only one taking action in Cantabria. Faced with the influx of visitors, the regional administration and the Santoña City Council launched a pilot test to control access to the monument during the summer months. There was already talk of limiting visits to 300 per day in 2022.

What the Cantabrian Parliament has actually done, with the support of all groups and the abstention of Vox, is to ask the regional government to take measures to implement access control to the popular Santoña lighthouse, a famous structure dating from 1863. 763 stone steps connect it.

Another PSOE proposal, partly related to the environment and tourism, was less fortunate: to implement the conservation plan for the Puntal Dunes and Miera Estuary in the next six months. Puntal de Somo beach is affected by the effects of climate change and marine dynamics, as well as large bottles and summer parties. The Hydraulic Institute of Cantabria (IH) has warned of the risk that Puntal will deteriorate by 2050, affecting both the natural environment and the economy and tourism.

Tourism in the future. Tourism in Cantabria, as in other parts of Northern Iberia, creates controversy not only because of its numbers or current impacts. There are several studies predicting that heat waves will cause tourism to seek out areas with more suitable temperatures. There are experts in the Canary Islands who calculate that the climate crisis could reduce influxes by 19%.

“The increase in temperatures may harm especially the coastal regions of the Mediterranean” […]A recent analysis by BBVA Research states that this impact will be partially offset by an improvement in tourism demand in the north of Spain. Cantabria’s appeal has already attracted the attention (and portfolio) of investors, who are promoting an ambitious housing project. development and a golf course. It didn’t take long for the initiative to bring critics to the streets.

Your motto for rejecting a promotion? “We don’t want to be the Ibiza of the North.”

Pictures | Pedro López (Flickr), Raúl Hernández González (Flickr)

via | Spanish Newspaper

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