Sevilla mayor Jose Luis Sanz has confirmed that he will renew his demand for a tourist tax.
It comes despite fierce opposition from hard-right party Vox and its newfound control over the regional tourism department.
Sanz said he will raise the issue directly with Junta president Juanma Moreno at an upcoming meeting and will also seek talks with the new regional tourism minister – and Vox leader – Manuel Gavira.
The Partido Popular mayor has become increasingly outspoken about the pressures created by mass tourism in Sevilla, declaring that the city cannot accommodate ‘one more tourist flat’.
But his push puts him directly at odds with Vox, which entered the Andalucian government following this year’s regional election and has effectively drawn a red line against introducing a tourist tax.
‘Tourist tax, absolutely yes,’ Sanz told El Correo de Andalucia, ‘Sevilla needs it.’
Sanz argues that individual councils should be allowed to decide whether to introduce the levy rather than having one imposed universally across Andalucia.
He pointed to the almost four million visitors Sevilla receives each year, saying tourism places additional demands on cleaning, public safety and the maintenance of its historic centre.
‘I support and defend a tourist tax whose application would be voluntary for each council,’ he said.
‘A city that receives almost four million visitors a year, that requires cleaning and public safety services and that has the most important historic centre in Spain and one of the most important in Europe, alongside Rome and Bologna, needs an extraordinary financing instrument.’
Sanz said he was ultimately flexible about what form that additional funding takes.
It could be a conventional nightly tourist levy, a share of the VAT generated by visitors or another mechanism involving Spain’s Treasury.
But he believes a tourist tax would be the simplest solution because similar systems already operate elsewhere in Spain and across major European cities.
He now plans to raise the issue again with Moreno and request a meeting with the regional tourism minister.
Sanz said he would try to convince him, if not to introduce a tax immediately, then at least to create a working group to discuss how Andalucian cities can obtain additional funding from tourism.
The demand creates another potential flashpoint between the PP and Vox.
The previous Andalucian government had already resisted calls for a tourist tax, but the prospect has become even more remote since Vox took control of the regional tourism portfolio.
Sanz nevertheless appears determined to keep the issue alive.
The disagreement comes as relations between the two parties in Sevilla have also been strained by the controversial proposed mosque and cultural centre in Poligono Sur.
Vox has opposed the project, while Sanz insists the city council has simply complied with the law in processing it.
The PP mayor has relied on Vox to pass two municipal budgets and described their relationship over recent years as ‘reasonably satisfactory’, but acknowledged there is no guarantee that another agreement will be reached.
If negotiations fail, he said Sevilla’s 2026 budget could simply be extended into next year.
Read more Andalucia news at the Spanish Eye.
