Hosteltur

🏖️ The Catalan Parliament validated a tourist tax increase on Wednesday, causing confusion among accommodations due to immediate effect and legal uncertainty. Although a new decree is expected to suspend the hike until October, the tourism sector demands the repeal of the current decree. The Catalan Government advises against charging the increased tax until the new decree's approval next Tuesday. Political discord arose as the Commons did not support the postponement, leaving the PSC and ERC without a majority.

📝 The Grupo Parlamentario Popular, led by Senator Agustín Almodóbar, aims to end anonymity in online consumer reviews by mandating identity verification and proof of purchase or service usage. They propose a motion to the Senate's Industry and Tourism Committee, urging the government to enforce the legal change, which includes banning fake or manipulated reviews on paid service platforms. Businesses, particularly in tourism and hospitality, suffer from negative impacts due to fraudulent reviews, with false negative comments potentially costing a restaurant 30% of its bookings in a week. The legislative reform would require verification systems, create a user complaint and review mechanism, and implement penalties for fraudulent accounts, as well as external audits of platforms.