Sought out by tourists from around the world for everything from its Gaudí architecture and Catalan history to its beach and party scene, Barcelona recorded 26.1 million visitors in 2025.
With a permanent population of just 1.73 million, Barcelona is also one of the European cities that in the last year has started to see increasing anti-tourism pushback.
In response, local authorities have taken stricter measures to mitigate the effects of heightened visitor numbers on the local population. This includes a complete ban on Airbnb and all other short-term rentals by 2028, increasing visitor caps on both cruise and regular tourist numbers, and now, potentially tripling the cruise arrival tax.
Barcelona set to increase tax to cruise ship visitors to 30 euros
At the moment, anyone coming into Barcelona by cruise ship pays €11 ($12.50 USD) for less than 12 hours off the boat in a city tax that is added directly to their ticket.
In a proposal approved by both parties in the Barcelona City Council, this fee is set to rise to €30 ($34 USD) a day alongside a separate proposal to cap the total number of cruise ship visitors per year to 3.5 million.
The tax would not be applied to travelers who begin or disembark from their cruise ship journey in Barcelona. While the proposal identifies those visitors as having a more positive impact on the city and its economy, those staying in Barcelona accommodation are already subject to a tax of between €7 and €12 per night added to their hotel bill.
The latter price was recently hiked from lower numbers at the start of 2026.
The latest fee increase still needs to be passed by the Parliament of Catalonia in order to be signed into law. If the legislation does get parliamentary approval, the new cruise tax is expected to go into effect by early 2026.
“In the coming months, we will raise the tourist tax so that it comes into force in the next few months and not in four years as we had agreed,” Barcelona Mayor Jaume Collboni said back in May, Travel Weekly Asia reported. “I want to discourage the arrival of cruise passengers.”
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Locals both support, criticize Barcelona cruise ship visitor tax price hike
Although drafted in response to significant local discontent and subsequent pressure on politicians around rising tourist numbers, the proposal was also subject to some criticism from local tourism industry representatives.
They argued that steep tax increases would lead to Barcelona missing out on funds that will instead go toward other Mediterranean ports.
The cruise industry, according to the World Travel & Tourism Council, has generated more than €11.9 million in 2024, the most recent year for which numbers were calculated.
“Evidence WTTC has gathered from other destinations shows that sudden tax hikes rarely produce the intended outcomes,” President Gloria Guevara said in a statement, EuroNews reported.
“Additional costs to visitors to Barcelona would likely reduce the overall economic contribution generated by the cruise industry as tourists adjust their spending habits ashore.”
