LET'S LOOT PILGRIMS! Santiago de Compostela Joins the Club of 'Hunting' Cities with its Historic (and Ridiculous) Tourist Tax
The Apostle turns in his grave: the Santiago City Council, in an act of "visionary" management, approves the first tourist 'spill' in Galicia. Get ready, walkers and strangers, because now, in addition to blisters, you will carry the lightest wallet for the 'privilege' of stepping on sacred ground. Compostela now comes with a surcharge!
Santiago de Compostela, Galicia – Hold on to your underwear and tighten your belt, because the Santiago de Compostela City Council, in a display of fiscal ingenuity worthy of praise (or whining, depending on how you look at it), has initially approved what will be the first tourist tax in Galicia. Yes, you read correctly. In the epicenter of the pilgrimage, where the spirit and the search are supposed to prevail, now we will have to apoquinate for the simple fact of sleeping. “Ora et Labora” becomes “Pay and Go”!
With the support of a heterogeneous political coven (BNG, Compostela Aberta, PSOE and the four "non-attached" councilors, who at this point it is no longer known which side they are from), Santiago joins the select club of cities that have discovered gunpowder: if they come, let them pay. Between 1 and 2.5 euros daily, with a limit of five days. Aim? "Compensate the impact of the tourist flow." Please! As if the air that the pilgrims breathe or the shadow of the Cathedral were not already "impact."
The Art of 'Balancing Imbalances': Or of Filling the Coffers with Other People's Wallets?
According to the municipal spokesperson, Míriam Louzao, the funds raised will go to "investments and expenses linked to the promotion, promotion, protection, promotion and development of sustainable tourism." Ah, the hackneyed “sustainable tourism”! That universal excuse for any new tax. It sounds nice, but one can't help but imagine the funds going to a giant statue of a pilgrim with a dataphone machine in his hand.
The funniest thing is that Louzao herself regrets that the Xunta did not do their dirty work by collecting the tax herself. What audacity! It seems like they would love to get paid, but without the "hassle" of management. This is how the new policy spends it: the idea is good if someone else charges it. Of course, he defends that the rate is to "balance some of the imbalances caused between municipal budgets that are calculated based on the number of residents and have a much higher level of spending for the number of inhabitants." Translation: "You come, you use the water, you use the streets, and we don't know how to charge you for it... until now!"
The Political Circus: "Brave", "Punishment" and "Improvised Botches"
The political debate was, as always, a spectacle worthy of applause. Mercedes Rosón (from the "non-attached" councilors, remember) defended the measure with kindergarten arguments: "it serves to improve" and "it does not seek to punish visitors, but to protect" the city. Of course it doesn't punish! It's just a kind "contribution" to the local economy. Like when your friend invites you to dinner and then hands you the electricity bill for his house.
María Rozas (Compostela Aberta) boasted of herself, remembering that her training "put this rate on the table in 2015." How brave! Open your eyes and "look to Europe" to copy what others are already doing. Pure innovation!
The socialist spokesperson, Sindo Guinarte, also joined the chorus that the "appropriate" thing would be for it to be managed by the Xunta, but he "valued positively" the tax. Come on, he likes the idea, but it's not up to him to manage it. Of course, he had the decency to regret a certain "lack of dialogue with the sector." A detail!
And the Popular Party, Borja Verea, opted for abstention, but not before spilling pearls. He spoke of a “dialogued, consensual and participated” rate, something that, apparently, only exists in his imagination. And he cited a Treasury report that warned that verifying the tax would be "a chimera" and would require "more staff." "Everything seems to indicate that there is a great rush to have here what seems like an improvised bungle to try to cover up the usual circus to which we are accustomed," Verea stated. Whoa, all over the mouth! And, truth be told, municipal management is not usually the epitome of efficiency.
In short, Santiago, the goal of the Path of faith and introspection, will now also be the goal of "you pay here." A “collective awareness” about the “environmental, economic and human footprint,” as Mayor Goretti Sanmartín says. Or, in silver, "you generate expenses, and now you pay them to us." A historic step, yes. Historical in the art of squeezing tourists. Buen Camino (if you have any money left)!
