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Spain tourist tax by region in 2026: rates and exemptions

Which Spanish regions charge a tourist tax in 2026, what a holiday let pays per guest and night, who is exempt and who files it. From official sources.

The Apartop team11 min read

Income summary for a holiday let with the tourist tax worked out
In this article
  1. Summary table by region
  2. Catalonia: the most expensive, especially Barcelona
  3. Balearic Islands: the sustainable tourism tax
  4. Galicia: only where the town has opted in
  5. Basque Country: from 1 January 2027
  6. Regions with no tax (and pending bills)
  7. Getting it right
  8. How Apartop handles it
  9. Frequently asked questions
  10. Sources

If you own a holiday let in Spain, whether you have to charge a tourist tax depends entirely on where it is. As of October 2026 only Catalonia and the Balearic Islands charge one across the whole region. Galicia charges it only in the towns that have opted in (Santiago de Compostela, A Coruña and, since 1 October 2026, Vigo). The Basque Country (Álava, Bizkaia and Gipuzkoa) starts on 1 January 2027. Andalusia, the Valencia region, Madrid and the rest of Spain have none. Asturias has a bill still going through the regional parliament.

Below you will find a region-by-region table for a vivienda de uso turístico (VUT), the Spanish legal term for a licensed holiday flat or house. It covers the rate per guest and night, who is exempt, the maximum number of taxable nights and who has to collect and file the tax. We checked every figure on 11 October 2026 with the regional tax agencies, official gazettes and town halls (links at the end).

Summary table by region

RegionTax in 2026?Holiday let, per guest per nightMax. nightsAge exemption
Catalonia (Barcelona city)✅€4.50 + €5 city surcharge (until 31 Mar 2027)7Under 17
Catalonia (rest)✅€1.75 (€2.50 from 1 Apr 2027)7Under 17
Balearic Islands✅€2 (May–Oct), €0.50 (Nov–Apr) + VATNo cap; 50 % off from night 9Under 16
Galicia: Santiago✅€25Under 18
Galicia: A Coruña✅€25Under 18
Galicia: Vigo✅ from 1 Oct 2026€1.462 until 30 Jun 2027, then 5Under 18
Basque Country (Álava, Bizkaia, Gipuzkoa)From 1 Jan 2027€4.50–€6.50, set by each town6Under 18
Asturias❌ Bill going through parliamentProposed: €2.50Proposed: 5—
Canary Islands❌ No regional taxMogán: €0.15 local fee, struck down by the TSJC (ruling not final)——
Valencia region❌ Repealed in 2023 (Decree-law 12/2023)———
Andalusia❌———
Madrid and all other regions❌———

Catalonia: the most expensive, especially Barcelona

The tax on stays in tourist establishments (IEET) is set by Catalan Law 5/2017. Law 2/2026 of 6 March (DOGC 10 March 2026, BOE 23 March 2026), which replaced Decree-laws 6/2025 and 10/2025, raised it from 1 April 2026. According to the Catalan Tax Agency (Agència Tributària de Catalunya, ATC), a holiday let pays:

  • Barcelona city: €4.50 plus a €5 city surcharge (1 April 2026 to 31 March 2027). Under the city's tax bylaw 2.2, the surcharge rises to €6 (from 1 April 2027), €7 (from 1 April 2028) and €8 (from 1 April 2029). That makes €9.50 per guest per night today.
  • Rest of Catalonia: €1.75 until 31 March 2027, then €2.50.
  • Local surcharges from 1 October 2026: Castelldefels, Esplugues de Llobregat, L'Hospitalet de Llobregat, El Prat de Llobregat, Sabadell, Sant Cugat del Vallès and Sant Just Desvern each add their own. For a holiday let it is €1.75 (€0.90 in Esplugues) until 31 March 2027. From 1 April 2027 the ATC lists €2.50 (€2.40 in Castelldefels and €1.20 in Esplugues; Sant Just Desvern has not published its figure yet).

Exempt: under-17s, stays for qualifying health reasons, stays funded by public social programmes and force majeure. Only the first 7 nights per guest and continuous stay are taxed, surcharge included.

Who collects and files: the guest pays, but the owner or operator acts as the sustituto, the person legally liable in the guest's place. You collect the tax and file a return with the ATC twice a year: 1–20 October for stays from April to September, and 1–20 April for stays from October to March (forms 950, 940 or 920). If you live abroad you still need a Spanish tax number (NIE) to register and file. Most foreign owners use a local gestor or management company for this.

Balearic Islands: the sustainable tourism tax

The so-called ecotasa is the tourist stays tax under Balearic Law 2/2016. According to the regional government's official calculator, a holiday home (vivienda turística) pays €2 per guest per night from 1 May to 31 October and €0.50 from 1 November to 30 April, plus 10 % VAT.

  • From the 9th night in the same property, the tax is halved.
  • Exempt: under-16s.
  • Who files: the operator, with the Balearic Tax Agency (ATIB). Holiday homes can be taxed under a flat-rate regime (estimación objetiva), where the ATIB issues the bill. Check with the ATIB which regime and calendar apply to you.

Galicia: only where the town has opted in

Galician Law 5/2024 created a regional tourist stays tax and lets each town hall (concello) add a voluntary local surcharge. At least 80 % of the money must go to sustainable tourism. You only pay if your property is in a town with an approved bylaw:

  • Santiago de Compostela (since 1 October 2025): €2 per guest per night for a VUT. Galician law also has a different category, vivenda turística, which pays €1. Minors and people with a disability of 65 % or more are exempt, among others. You file every six months on the town hall's website: 1–20 July and 1–20 January.
  • A Coruña (tax bylaw no. 34, published in the A Coruña provincial gazette on 26 September 2025, in force from the next day): also €2 for a VUT, with a maximum of 5 nights. Exempt: unemancipated minors, people with a disability of 65 % or more and stays funded by social programmes. You file every six months with the town hall, on the same dates as Santiago.
  • Vigo (tax bylaw no. 54, final approval on 7 September 2026, published in the Pontevedra provincial gazette on 11 September 2026; applies from 1 October 2026): €1.46 per guest per night for a VUT (€0.73 for a vivenda turística). Until 30 June 2027 nights 3 to 5 are charged at zero, so only the first 2 nights are taxed; from 1 July 2027 the cap is 5 nights. Unemancipated minors and people with a disability of 65 % or more are exempt, among others. You file every six months on the town hall's website: by 31 July and by 31 January (October to December 2026 by 31 January 2027).

Basque Country: from 1 January 2027

In the Basque Country the tax is municipal, and each province sets the framework with its own regional law (norma foral): Álava (Norma Foral 13/2026 of 10 June, BOTHA 22 June 2026), Gipuzkoa (Norma Foral 3/2026 of 12 June, BOPV 25 June 2026) and Bizkaia (Norma Foral 3/2026 of 17 June, BOB 26 June 2026, corrected in the BOB of 22 July 2026). All three take effect on 1 January 2027 and match on the essentials: each town sets the rate for holiday lets between €4.50 and €6.50. If a town has not approved its bylaw in time, the maximum applies.

  • Up to 6 nights per guest and stay.
  • Exempt: under-18s, people with a disability of 65 % or more or with grade II–III dependency (plus one companion), and publicly funded social stays.
  • Towns can reduce the tax by up to 100 % (towns with few tourist beds, for example 25 or fewer) or add a surcharge of up to 50 % where tourist supply or intensity is high.
  • Who files: the owner, as sustituto, sends quarterly returns to the town hall.
  • Bookings made before 5 February 2026 are not taxed.

Town halls are approving their bylaws with the actual rate this autumn, so check your town's before January 2027.

Regions with no tax (and pending bills)

  • Andalusia (Costa del Sol, Seville, Granada…): no tourist tax. The regional government opposes it, and town halls cannot create one on their own. A flat in Málaga or Marbella charges nothing for this today.
  • Valencia region (including Alicante and the Costa Blanca): Law 7/2022 of 16 December created a tourist stays tax due to take effect on 19 December 2023. Decree-law 12/2023 of 10 November (DOGV 14 November 2023) repealed that law before it ever applied, and the regional parliament ratified it on 30 November 2023. No new law has been published in 2025 or 2026.
  • Asturias: on 29 June 2026 the regional government approved a tourist stays tax bill that would let town halls charge €0.50–€3 per night (€2.50 for holiday lets in the draft). It would apply only from 1 June to 30 September and at Easter, for up to 5 nights. It is not law yet: at the end of September 2026 it was still before the regional parliament (Junta General).
  • Canary Islands: no regional tax. Mogán charges a local fee of €0.15 per guest per night, but the regional High Court (TSJC) struck the bylaw down (ruling of 28 May 2026, made public on 13 July 2026). The ruling is not final: according to the press, the town hall is appealing to the Supreme Court and keeps charging the fee in the meantime. If your property is in Mogán, check with the town hall. The Teide eco-fee is for hiking trails, not accommodation.
  • Everywhere else: we found no tourist stays tax as of October 2026.

Getting it right

  1. Check your property type. The rates above are for holiday lets (VUT). Hotels, tourist apartment blocks and rural houses pay different rates.
  2. Count guests and ages. You need dates of birth, which you already collect for the police guest register (SES.HOSPEDAJES; see our step-by-step guide).
  3. Apply the night cap (7 in Catalonia, 6 in the Basque Country, 5 in Galicia). In the Balearics, also apply the season and the night-9 discount.
  4. Charge it separately and show it on the invoice or receipt (if you issue invoices, read VeriFactu for holiday lets too). Airbnb and Booking.com do not always collect it for you, so check each channel.
  5. Keep proof of exemptions (a child's ID, a disability certificate).
  6. File on time, with the right form and office: every six months in Catalonia and Galicia, quarterly in the Basque Country.

How Apartop handles it

Apartop works out the tourist tax automatically by region and town for every booking, invoice and owner statement. It uses the property address, the nights and the guests. If the guest has done the online check-in, Apartop knows their date of birth and leaves out anyone exempt by age. It already covers Barcelona and its surcharge, the rest of Catalonia with local surcharges, the Balearics with seasons and the night-9 discount, Santiago, A Coruña, Vigo (only 2 nights until June 2027) and, from 2027, the Basque Country.

The automatic calculation is for holiday lets. For other property types you can enter your own rate. The tax also appears on your booking invoices and in each property's net return in the statistics. On the Pro plan, the summary for your gestor is an Excel file with the tax by quarter and town, ready for the return. For the rental income itself, see how to declare holiday let income.

You can start free, free forever for up to 2 properties, or see Pro pricing.

Frequently asked questions

Is there a tourist tax in Málaga or the rest of Andalusia?

No. Andalusia has no tourist stays tax, and town halls cannot introduce one on their own.

How much is the tourist tax for a holiday flat in Barcelona?

Since 1 April 2026 it is €4.50 Catalan tax plus a €5 city surcharge: €9.50 per guest per night, for up to 7 nights. Under-17s do not pay. The surcharge rises to €6 in April 2027.

Who pays: the guest or the owner?

The guest bears the tax, but the owner or operator collects it and pays it to the tax office as the sustituto. If you forget to charge it, you still owe it.

I live abroad. Do I still have to file?

Yes. The obligation comes with the property, not with your residence. You will need a NIE and, in practice, a Spanish gestor or management company to file the regional returns.

Is there a tourist tax in Alicante or Valencia?

No. It was created by Law 7/2022 but repealed by Decree-law 12/2023 of 10 November before it was ever charged, and the regional parliament ratified the repeal. There is no new tax in 2026.

Does Apartop's free plan include the tourist tax?

Yes. The automatic calculation by region and town is on every plan. The Excel summary by quarter and town for your gestor is on Pro.

Sources

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