In Barcelona, the leader of the PP in the City Council, Daniel Sirera, has called Mayor Jaume Collboni's plan to eliminate cruise stopovers “very worrying”. The mayor intends to achieve this by increasing the tourist tax from next year, rather than over the previously scheduled four-year period.
Speaking to journalists on Thursday alongside PP spokesperson in Congress, Ester Muñoz, Sirera criticised Collboni for maintaining a hotel moratorium, not supporting the airport's expansion, ending tourist apartment concessions, and now targeting cruise stopovers. Sirera suggested that the only tourists Collboni wants in Barcelona are “people who camp on the Ronda, in Parc de la Ciutadella or in La Sagrera”. He concluded that a policy of economic degrowth is not a good solution for the city.
Collboni explained in a 'Betevé' interview on Wednesday that the proposal is to raise the cruise tourist tax from €4 to €8 next year. This is a faster timeline than the four years initially planned. According to the mayor, the tax aims to fund the resources these tourists use in the city and to “economically disincentivise” such stays through taxation. He claims these visitors make intensive use of city space but do not generate significant income.
Tackling Crime in Barcelona
Separately, after visiting a citizen patrol group that monitors pickpockets on the metro and meeting with security guards, Sirera highlighted that the PP's “priority” is the fight against repeat offending. “Finally, the law [on repeat offending] has been approved, and I hope and wish that, very soon, it will become effective and we can end a good part of the crime in the most insecure city in Spain,” he stated.
Sirera affirmed that his first action as mayor would be to ask the President of the Government, whom he said would be PP leader Alberto Núñez Feijóo, for a change in policing. He wants the 3,000 Mossos d'Esquadra officers, agreed upon by Salvador Illa, Pedro Sánchez, Puigdemont, and Junqueras to replace Guardia Civil and National Police agents in ports and airports, to instead patrol Barcelona's streets. “Those 3,000 agents should patrol the city of Barcelona, the squares and the most insecure streets, and the Guardia Civil and National Police should continue guarding the ports and airports, which they do with great effectiveness,” he said.
Muñoz added that in Barcelona, “crimes continue to increase,” calling sexual assault particularly serious. She expressed her disbelief that public officials are not acting on these figures. “You have a socialist mayor who says absolutely nothing is happening in Barcelona, despite it being the most insecure city in Spain. It is the failed model of the left and the PSOE,” she added. She concluded that President Pedro Sánchez “says that anyone who talks about insecurity is racist” and that President Salvador Illa says there is no insecurity in Catalonia.
