EMEA News
Barcelona to Increase Daily Tax on Cruise Ship Visitors
Cruise visitors to Barcelona spending under 12 hours in the Catalan capital are likely to pay more for the priviledge as the city's major has signalled the city council's intention to increase the daily tariff.
The move, widely reported in the media, is part of a strategy to restrict what are seen as the negative effects of 'overtourism'.
The concept refers to the number of tourists in a destination that can becom to a burden on that destination's facilities thereby making daily life harder for local residents.
Cruise ship visitors that arrive in big numbers for short periods are deemed by some to be part of the overtourism phenomenon.
In an effort to ease congestion and limit emissions from ships in the central area, Barcelona is to move the city's central cruise ship terminal away from its central position. The last cruise ship to dock at the World Trade Centre north terminal did so at the end of last year.
Cruise ships are also under pressure to switch to shore power when docked in order to cut down on emissions.
The European Maritime Safety Agency is to deploy drone technology to monitor ships' emissions in the Spanish port
