Starting this Monday, all cruise passengers disembarking in Lisbon will have to pay a tourist tax.
All operators now charge a single fee of two euros upon arrival in the capital, even if passengers sleep more than one night on ships docked in the Port of Lisbon.
Until now, only those who slept in the city’s hotels were obliged to pay a tourist tax, with the thousands of tourists who arrive by sea every year being exempt.
The measure came into force at the beginning of the year, but many tour operators were still not charging passengers for it.a situation that drew criticism from the Mayor of Lisbon.
Speaking to Jornal de Negócios in December last year, Carlos Moedas said that the operators’ stance was “shameful” and threatened to “hinder” the operation of companies in the sectoradmitting limiting the circulation of buses that transport cruise passengers to the city center if the situation were not regularized.
According to data from the Port of Lisbon, Last year broke all records: more than 700 thousand passengers disembarked in the capital52% more than in the previous year.
The camera Lisbon expects to raise more than one million euros with the measurement.
