Municipalities experiencing a high volume of visitors face a significant imbalance between the public services they must provide and the funding they receive. This issue was central to the intervention of the mayor of Torremolinos at the international forum Spain Talks 2026, held in London, where discussions focused on tourist taxes and sustainable destination management.
The town of Torremolinos, with approximately 75,000 registered inhabitants, operates with infrastructure and services scaled for a much larger population during peak tourist seasons. This additional effort impacts areas such as cleaning, security, urban maintenance, infrastructure, and beach conservation, without the allocation of resources to the town hall reflecting this reality.
“"Tourism generates economic activity, consumption, and tax revenue, but not all of that return directly benefits the municipalities that make the greatest effort to sustain the destination every day."
The mayor emphasized that the debate surrounding tourist taxes often distracts from the core problem: local governments in tourist areas provide services for a significantly larger floating population than their official census, yet their resources are calculated solely based on registered residents.
Given this situation, the Spanish Government has been urged to address this imbalance. Proposed solutions include a review of the municipal funding model or the implementation of specific tools to enable local councils to manage the additional costs incurred by tourism. The tourist tax is presented as one option within this framework, provided there is clear regulation to ensure legal certainty and the autonomy of each local council to decide on its implementation.
“"Torremolinos wants to remain a leading destination, but it also wants to remain a livable, well-maintained city with quality public services. And for that, the Government needs to finally address the real problem, which is how tourist municipalities are funded."
