Major European tourist cities are presenting the bill to cruise passengers all at once. On the 17th local time, Spain's El País reported that Barcelona said on the 13th it would implement within months, not four years, a plan to double the cruise tourist tax.
World-famous port cities where cruises dock—such as Amsterdam in the Netherlands, Lisbon in Portugal, Santorini in Greece, and Venice in Italy—also introduced or raised surcharges around the same time. The stated reason is to curb "overtourism," but observers say the move is part of restructuring the tourism industry to filter out visitors whose actual spending is low compared with the congestion expense cities bear.
On the 13th, Barcelona Mayor Jaume Collboni said in an interview with local broadcaster Betevé that the city would implement within the coming months, not in four years, a plan to raise the tourist tax for cruise passengers to 8 euros (about 14,000 won) per person per night from the current 4 euros. He added, "Tourism must exist for the city," and, "The goal is to reduce the number of cruise passengers arriving in Barcelona."
Barcelona is not trying to overhaul the entire cruise industry. Specifically, the target is passengers who stay at the port only for a few hours before reboarding their ship. Even among cruise passengers, those who start or end their cruise in Barcelona, known as home port passengers, stay at local hotels and use the airport and facilities. But transit passengers, who depart from another city and stop briefly, handle both lodging and meals on board. Collboni said he wants to reduce transit passengers "to zero, without leaving a single one."
According to a University of Barcelona study, cruise passengers who stayed overnight in the city spent 200 euros (about 350,000 won) per person per day. In contrast, transit passengers spent only 53.3 euros (about 93,000 won). A 2024 report by the Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) also found that average per-person spending by transit passengers at European ports was just 72 euros (about 125,000 won). That was about one-quarter of the overall average of 258 euros (about 450,000 won) per cruise passenger.
The Port of Barcelona received 2.8 million individual cruise passengers in 2024. The related economic impact was 1.2 billion euros (about 2.09 trillion won), with a 770 million euro (about 1.23 trillion won) contribution to Catalonia's gross domestic product (GDP), and more than 9,500 jobs created. Spain's port authority says the cruise industry brings Catalonia 3 million euros (about 5.2 billion won) a day.
On the numbers alone, the industry is humming. But city officials say roughly 1.6 million, or 60% of the 2.8 million passengers, are simple transit visitors who are not tied to high-value spending. According to the University of Barcelona study, American home port passengers spent an average of 307 euros (about 535,000 won) per day and stayed an average of 2.8 nights. Transit passengers, however, tended to crowd only key attractions such as the Sagrada Família, La Rambla, and the Gothic Quarter for four to five hours after disembarking. When a large ship docks, between 3,000 and as many as 6,000 people pour out at once. Collboni said, "What we want is quality tourism," adding, "We are interested in attracting business visitors."
Barcelona is not the only city levying taxes on cruise passengers. Major European cities known for cruise tourism are shifting the focus of tourist taxes, which had been imposed on overnight stays, toward "visitors who do not sleep in the city." Amsterdam this year raised the same-day cruise tourist tax to 15 euros (about 26,000 won) per passenger. Lisbon began charging cruise disembarkers over age 13 a "Sea Arrival Fee" of 2 euros (about 3,500 won) per person in Apr. last year. Spain's Balearic Islands, home to the luxury destination Mallorca, have considered even a few hours of docking a "tourist stay" since 2024 and levy a sustainable tourism tax.
Greece introduced a 20 euro (about 35,000 won) surcharge for cruise passengers during peak season in Santorini and Mykonos. Venice, Italy, is imposing an "access fee" of 5 to 10 euros not only on cruise passengers but on all same-day visitors who do not stay in the city.
Raising taxes is not all. With city council approval in 2024, Barcelona began work to cut the number of cruise terminals from seven to five. Instead of demolishing the aging terminals A, B, and C and rebuilding them as they were, the new shared terminal is designed to give priority to cruise companies that use Barcelona as a home port and to small vessels. The port authority said, "This is not construction to expand capacity, but a design for responsible cruise management."
Cruise packages are generally more expensive than air travel. For this reason, many say slapping an extra 8 to 14 euros per person in taxes is unlikely to deter trips altogether. Venice collected 2.4 million euros (about 4.1 billion won) from same-day visit fees last year, but ran a deficit after spending 2.7 million euros (about 4.7 billion won) to operate the system. Spain's Balearic Islands also saw no clear change in tourist numbers in the two years after introducing the sustainable tourism tax.
The measures have also backfired. When port fees, passenger taxes, and terminal slot expenses rise together, cruise lines tend to redesign routes to boost profits. In 2019, when Amsterdam introduced an 8 euro per-person cruise surcharge, many operators rerouted to nearby Rotterdam. The number of ships calling at Amsterdam that year plunged to 128 from 180 the previous year.