The plenary of L'Hospitalet de Llobregat has provisionally approved a municipal surcharge on the tax paid by visitors staying in tourist accommodation, the city council has said. The measure would increase the cost of overnight stays for tourists in Catalonia's second-largest city and direct the additional revenue to the municipality.

L'Hospitalet council said it intends to apply the maximum charge allowed under Catalonia's revised tourist-tax rules, bringing its local levy closer to Barcelona's. The surcharge would be added to the Catalan tax on stays in tourist establishments.

Revenue from the surcharge will be used to “offset the costs generated by tourist activity and strengthen municipal public policies, especially those related to housing”, according to L'Hospitalet council.

New Catalan rules allow surcharges outside Barcelona

El Periódico reported that L'Hospitalet had asked the Generalitat, the Catalan government, about 18 months earlier to allow it to match Barcelona's tourist tax. José Antonio Alcaide, L'Hospitalet's councillor for Economy and Proximity, said the new framework addressed some of the council's requests.

“The rule includes some of our requests, such as being able to incorporate a specific charge as a council depending on the type of establishment,” Alcaide said. “It does not match Barcelona, but it does reduce the sense of unfairness we had.”

Under Catalonia's revised framework, other municipalities may establish a surcharge of up to €4 per person per night and vary it by the location of the establishment or the season, according to the law approved by the Parliament of Catalonia. The [Catalan Tax Agency's tourist-stay tax guidance](https://atc.gencat.cat/es/agencia/noticies/detall-noticia/20260310-ieet-tarifes) sets out the changes to the regional tax and municipal surcharges.

The same reform provides that, outside Barcelona, the maximum regional tourist-tax rate is €4.50 per night from 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2027, rising to €6 thereafter. It also allocates 25% of the Generalitat's tourist-tax revenue to its housing policies.

Primary sources: boe.es, atc.gencat.cat. Reported by Source Text Link, Àlex Rebollo,Gerardo Santos, EFE, Vicenç Pagès, catalannews.com, Alfonso L. Congostrina, beteve.cat, Departament de la Presidència, Marc Guasch Ferreiro, Camilo S. Baquero, Redacción, Àlex Rebollo, El Llobregat, lhdigital.cat, El Periódico Barcelona.