Tourists staying overnight in hotels and local accommodation units in the municipality of Funchal will pay 2 euros per day from October 1st. Cruise passengers will pay the same amount, but only from January 1st. It is the result of the approval of the tourist tax proposed by the executive chaired by Cristina Pedra, this afternoon, at the session of the Funchal Municipal Assembly that took place today on the premises of Colégio Infante D. Henrique, parish of Monte. In the remainder of this year alone, it is estimated that this fee will generate 1.6 million euros for the municipality’s pot.
Deputies from the coalition ‘Funchal Semper à Frente’ (PSD/CDS), PS, BE and PDR voted in favor of the tax. Herlanda Amado (CDU) voted against and Valter Rodrigues (MPT) abstained.
The president of the CMF justified this measure: “It is a tourist tax that is currently imposed due to the enormous tourist pressure that Funchal is experiencing. Just to give you an idea, in 2019, which was the best tourist year in the pre-pandemic season, we had 1.6 million tourists in the Region and in 2023 we had 2.1 million tourists. Obviously, another half a million tourists puts pressure on municipal services, namely the cleaning of urban spaces, maintenance and a range of expenses that they incur. to cope, under penalty of Funchal residents having to be burdened with this weight of effective cost”.
Madalena Nunes (PS) pointed out the change of opinion of the PSD and CDS, which were against the tourist tax when the previous executive of the ‘Confiança’ coalition began to address this measure, in 2018. She also recalled that Cristina Pedra, when she presided over ACIF, opposed the measure. “Now the idea is good. Since 2018, the coalition started working on this issue. It is a late decision, which brought negative impacts. If we had implemented the tourist tax in 2020, the CMF would have raised 25.6 million euros to date “, she added.
The Municipal Assembly also approved a budget change, to define the destination of the 1.6 million euros that will be collected this year through the tourist tax: acquisition of equipment for urban cleaning (302 thousand euros), recovery of pavements (550 thousand euros) , garden maintenance (336 thousand euros), cultural events (228 thousand euros) and mobility management services (144 thousand euros).