Ten million tourists visiting the Balearic islands of Mallorca, Menorca and Ibiza this summer, including an estimated 180,000 Irish people, will have to pay an eco-tax of between 50 cent and €2 a day.
The tax has been introduced by the regional authorities in spite of objections from the central government in Madrid. The extra cost for a two-week holiday by a couple with two children will vary from €14 to €56, depending on the quality of the accommodation and the age of their children.
The tax will be collected by the owners of the accommodation, and visitors are advised to keep receipts as they may be eligible for a refund if an appeal to the Spanish constitutional court is successful.
Eighty-four per cent of the islands' income is from tourism, and the economy has been growing at over 11 per cent a year. However, the strain of coping with so many visitors is taking its own toll.
Domestic rubbish is growing at twice the national average for Spain, and 34 per cent of tourists are themselves complaining that the islands are becoming environmentally degraded.