For the mayor of Benidorm, the tourist a tax “is a political imposition; tax that no one has asked for”

The mayor of Benidorm Toni Pérez attended this morning at Invat. tur the presentation of the report "The Tourist Tax: an analysis of its suitability in the Valencian Community" that Turisme commissioned from the University Institute of Tourism Research of the University of Alicante.

During the presentation ceremony, it was concluded that it is 'counterproductive, contradictory and unfair' and after the presentation of their analysis by professors María Reyes González and Armando Ortuño, the mayor of Benidorm intervened during question time, after a reference to the development of the session, noting that "the sector has been able to carry out an analysis to diagnose the situation" and it follows, Pérez said, that we are "facing a new political tax" that aims to "inoculate in society the concept that the tourist does not leave anything at the destination. After what he specified that "nothing is more opposite to reality."

Pérez has shown his satisfaction because "such a prestigious institute in the world of tourism and professors such as those who have collaborated have carried out this study that is fully correct in what reality conveys". And there, Pérez stressed, "we are facing a new tax that no one has asked for" and that is "a political imposition."

The mayor of Benidorm stressed that on this issue "a lot of dialogue is missing" and there are plenty of "monologues and guardianship of municipalism".

In reality, Pérez insisted, "this new tax is only going to penalize the tourist who spends the night in regulated accommodation" so "it is going to harm our activity", with which "we are going to contribute less to the common good and the redistribution of wealth".

The conclusion is that "it harms Benidorm" and it is a tax that is intended "at a time when fiscally taxes should be lowered at the regional and national level", insisting the mayor of Benidorm that "what works is penalized", qualifying of “tourist-phobic sentiment” to insist on its application in, Pérez insisted, “a community that has a hospitality law.”

Professors Armando Ortuño Padilla, Mª Reyes González Ramírez, José Luis Gascó Gascó, Jairo Casares Blanco and Francisco Monllor Fuster, all of them members of the IUIT of the University of Alicante, have integrated the team that wrote the study.

The event was moderated by the Regional Secretary for Tourism, Francesc Colomer, and was attended by representatives of tourism associations and the sector, mayors and regional deputies.
From the writing team, Professor Ortuño has insisted that it is "a tax on a certain tourism and business model that is represented to the nth degree in Benidorm where sustainability makes its best show".