The tourist tax will be used to finance a total of 48 projects of very different significance: from the Grec Festival, to the guided tours of the Model, the parade of the Three Wise Men, the Christmas lights or the plan to manage the most crowded tourist spaces of the city, in addition to concrete actions around the Sagrada Família or the Carmel bunkers. The new package financed by the tourist tax totals 11.1 million that the City Council has distributed among 48 initiatives, 29 will be managed directly by the city districts and eight, through the Municipal Institute of Culture (ICUB).
The tourist tax already represents the third source of income for the City Council, "a part is dedicated to promotion; another part, which in this package two out of every three projects, to return to the city through cultural projects or activities in the districts, and another part to the management of the impact of tourism", explained Jordi Valls, deputy mayor of Economy, Finance and Tourism. Thus, 3,360,000 euros are allocated to the tourism promotion activities of the Barcelona Tourism Consortium and 165,000 euros to the Destination Barcelona agreement.
Among the cultural activities are the Llum BCN Festival, the Grec and La Mercè 2024 (with 300,000 euros each), the Barcelona x10 (of cultural projects arising from the neighborhoods) which will have 700,000 euros, the 241,000 euros of the concert in the beach of the International Music Day and the Guadalajara International Book Fair with half a million. The improvement of the tourist use of the Gabriel García Márquez Library and its surroundings will have 50,000 euros and the plan for places in Gracia will have 275,000 euros.
The financing with the tourist tax of several Christmas events stands out, such as the lights (450,000 euros), the artistic installation in Plaza Sant Jaume and the parade (259,000 euros), the end of year party (300,000 euros) or the fairs of Christmas of Sagrada Família, that of Sant Tomàs and that of Three Kings on Gran Vía.
Five of the projects have been allocated to managing the tourist impact, including the action plan around the Sagrada Família and its surroundings, which will have 200,000 euros. Another 78,000 will be allocated to the management and improvement of the Carmel bunkers, 100,000 euros to the management plan for high-traffic spaces and 60,000 to provide the existing mediation service between residents and tourist accommodation managers. In addition to the tourist tax, which will be around one hundred million this year, the City Council estimates that the 12 million people who stayed in Barcelona during 2023 represent around 9.6 billion euros in total spending in the city, which represents the direct occupation of 100,000 people.
