Many questions have been asked about what the tourist tax is being used for lately. Well now it has been revealed that the money from the eco-tax will be used to promote and encourage the conversion of permanent seasonal contracts into permanent ones. This is one of the main new features of the tourism containment decree that came into force last week.
In one of its provisions, the decree includes an amendment to the Sustainable Tourism Tax Law to promote training and quality employment in the tourism sector ‘as the basis for any approach to economic model transformation’. The text specifies that this transformation of the economic model involves reducing workplace accidents, converting permanent contracts for seasonal workers into regular permanent contracts and promoting the hiring of people with disabilities beyond the mandatory quota. In practice, this means that part of the tax revenue will be used for this transformation of permanent seasonal workers into permanent workers, although the regulation does not specify how this will be done.
One of the conclusions of the Sustainability Roundtable launched by Balearic president Marga Prohens with the participation of various groups is the need to move towards the gradual disappearance of the figure of the permanent discontinuous worker and its transformation into a permanent contract.
Permanent seasonal contracts have been an essential tool for providing job security to workers in the tourism sector, especially in the hospitality industry, during the months when there was no tourist activity. The extension of the season has allowed contracts to be extended as well, but the regional government believes that the time has come to take a further step and move towards the natural disappearance of this type of contract through a process of transformation into permanent employment.
The decree also includes other changes to the use of the eco-tax. The final text, which is already in force, emphasises that the resources from this fund must be used to finance investments for the protection, preservation, modernisation and recovery of the natural, rural, agricultural and marine environment, with special attention to projects to guarantee water supply.
In addition, money will be set aside for the promotion of seasonality, with the creation of tourist products that can be enjoyed in the low season, as well as the promotion of sustainable tourism, with a special focus on projects linked to culture and sport. Another new feature is that the money collected from the tax will go towards improving connectivity between the islands or promoting research projects that contribute to economic diversification or the fight against climate change.
There will also be funds to improve the quality of tourist areas that are saturated and undergoing redevelopment. One of the major new features of the decree, which was already announced by the regional government when it presented the new text, is that the eco-tax funds will be used to combat illegal tourism. In any case, the text specifies that environmental projects must be given priority in all these actions.