Barcelona moves forward with tripled tax on cruisers – what does this mean for your cruise?

• Barcelona’s local government has approved plans to significantly increase taxes on cruise passengers, with the amount set to nearly triple.
• This hasn’t officially come into law yet, but it now looks likely to be enforced later this year or early in 2027.
• This could have significant implications for the future of cruise in Barcelona.

Barcelona’s local government has agreed to a proposal to dramatically increase taxes on cruise passengers in the city. The city currently taxes each passenger a total of 11 euros, (AUD$18) and this will be to 30 euros (AUD$49) per passenger, a massive $31 jump.

For example, a cruise ship with 4000 passengers will now need to pay $124,000 extra each time they stop in Barcelona, and a total of $196,000. If a ship were to visit 15 times over the summer season, this would equate to about $3 million just on this particular passenger tax. 

While there previous plans to raise this tax gradually, and the cruise and travel industry has been calling for a reconsideration of this tax, the local government has approved the large increase and it’s likely to officially become law later this year. 

This will not apply to homeported cruises, but rather to ships that stop in the city and spend less than 12 hours during their visit. 

It’s also not the only measure being passed, the agreement also includes a clap of 3.5 million cruise passengers per year to the city. Barcelona currently sees about four million cruise passengers a year, meaning that hundreds of itineraries will need to be cut per year. The city is also looking to cut back from seven to five cruise terminals. 

City officials are framing the taxes and caps as a necessary way to reduce overtourism, something locals have been calling for after Barcelona recorded 26 million visitors in 2026. Cutting back cruise passengers by 500,000 per season would only equate to about a two per cent drop in overall numbers. However, it appears the city sees this only as a first ‘dissuasive’ step, and hopes to further reduce cruise passenger foot traffic in the future. 

The city has increased tourist taxes on hotels and rentals as well, and plans to revoke the licenses of all 10,000 short-term rentals in the city by 2028. 

What could this mean for your cruise to Barcelona? 

• Higher fares: These taxes are always built into the cruise fare, and the cruise line will pay them on your behalf. While $31 isn’t necessarily a massive increase to your overall cruise fare, it will now be another extra cost that adds up. 
• Potential cancellations: Given that a new cruise visitor cap could be enforced, this could mean that some itineraries need to be altered if companies are not looking to pay the increased tax.
• Fewer options in the future: Considering not just the passenger cap, but the increased taxes, it’s possible that some cruise ships will start cutting Barcelona from their itineraries altogether. It’s an extremely popular destination, and there’ll always be options, but we could see cruise lines greatly reduce their number of sailings to the city.