Setubal to start collecting tourist tax this Sunday

Setubal City Council will start charging a tourist tax of two euros per adult guest per night this Sunday, a measure that should bring the municipality “around 400,000 euros a year.”

The municipality justified the introduction of the tax by the significant increase in tourist activity and the need to secure new sources of funding in accordance with the “principle of fair distribution of public expenditure.”

According to the municipality, based on data from the National Statistics Institute, in 2022, tourist activity in the municipality of Setúbal reached 372,482 overnight stays.

“Therefore, there is a sharp increase in the load on public infrastructure and equipment, on public roads and on the urban space of the municipality as a whole,” the preamble to the resolution states.

The executive, led by André Martins (PEV, elected by the CDU), has chosen a tax that applies exclusively to overnight stays in tourist resorts, local hotels and campsites located within the municipality, for a maximum of five nights.

The application of the fee does not entail “any additional costs for the municipality other than those arising in connection with the provision of settlement services and the collection of the fee from owners of tourist enterprises or local accommodation establishments.”

These businesses and accommodation facilities will receive a commission of 2.5% of the income from the tourist tax, the annual global value of which the municipality estimates at 400 thousand euros.

Until August, at least 26 municipalities in Portugal were charging for overnight stays in tourist accommodation, but some municipalities will begin implementing the measure later this year, while others plan to start in 2025.

Today, in addition to Setúbal, the Caminha tourist tax comes into force.