Ecotax Update

Published 13 January 2003 Stephen White.

Tags: Ibiza News

After an initial year fraught with difficulties the Ecotax continues to cause consternation amongst both the public and hoteliers alike. The tax is supposed to be levied on tourists to the island to pay for environmental 'repairs' necessitated by the effects of mass tourism. A simple idea, but difficult to implement. The burden of tax collection was put into the hands of the hotels on the island, already embroiled in masses of paperwork who are already incensed by the fact that the clients of smaller hostels do not have to pay the tax!

Sources at the tax department have confirmed that this situation will continue for at least another year. It seems unfair that a measure designed to correct the damage caused by mass tourism should be financed by only a proportion of those masses, because people who stay in hostels, villas, and private apartments do not contribute one centimo!

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