Porto, Portugal, Nov. 19, 2024 (Lusa) - The Porto city council has approved by a majority a change to the regulation on the Municipal Tourist Tax, which will increase from €2 to €3 per overnight stay throughout the city.
The amendment, discussed at the session held on Monday night, received a favourable vote from the independent movement ‘Aqui Há Porto’, PS, BE, PAN, Chega, and abstentions from the CDU and two deputies from the independent movement.
The increase in the rate is justified by the expenditure associated with tourism borne by the municipality in 2023 in areas such as culture, heritage, the environment, energy, quality of life, town planning and mobility.
In 2023, expenditure associated with tourism totalled around €15.5 million, which, divided by the 5.5 million overnight stays in the city, represents a cost of €2.81 per overnight stay.
For the CDU, Francisco Calheiros considered that some criteria in the Municipal Tourist Tax regulation could be improved, namely the exemption for young people up to the age of 16 or in the context of school visits.
"The study points to various paths and could be taken into account in a future discussion," said the councillor, arguing that it is not the tax that "will bring balance to the problems that tourism causes in the city", but "integrated policies".
Councillors Rui Nóvoa, from BE, and Paulo Vieira de Castro, from PAN, also pointed out that the municipality "could and should" broaden the range of situations in which the amount of the tax to be charged could vary and apply "another type of categorisation", such as differentiating the amount according to the classification of hotels.
For the independent movement, Nuno Caiano emphasised that the Constitution "does not allow for differentiation" in the amount of the tax to be applied, but argued that it would make sense to "think about a VAT on tourism" even though this is "not within the reach of the city council".
Considering that the change "is not limited to a financial decision", social democrat Nuno Borges argued that it "promotes justice and equity, allows investment in urban sustainability and reduces tourist pressure".
Socialist Paula Roseira considered that the tax should be "a contribution to significant improvements" in the city and argued for the need to convert its revenue into housing policies.
In response to this call, also shared by the BE and CDU, the independent Nuno Caiano said that the revenue "could be earmarked for other items", but that this "is the decision of the council".
The session was due to discuss the municipal budget for 2025, but an amendment approved by the majority of members led to a change in the agenda, postponing its discussion until today (Tuesday).
During the proceedings, 11 motions, votes and recommendations were presented, some of which provoked controversy, such as that of the independent movement ‘Aqui Há Porto’ regarding the 25th November celebrations.
The session was also marked by the removal of a citizen from the room during the public speaking period.
The citizen, who addressed the attacks that pro-Palestinian demonstrators have allegedly been subjected to in the city, criticised the Porto municipality's position on the matter, which did not please some members.
After asking her to finish her speech, and for not doing so, the president of the Assembly asked the Municipal Police to remove the citizen from the room.
SPC/AYLS // AYLS
Lusa
