Bloco de Esquerda councillors want to see it doubled, but Lisbon mayor Fernando Medina isn’t convinced.
For now, he wants the €1 a night tourist tax (running for a maximum of seven nights of any stay) to stay in place until January 2019, at which point it will be ‘re-evaluated’ – almost certainly upwards.
The scheme has already raised “around €13.5 million” since it was introduced in January 2016.
Forecasts for this year’s income suggest 2017 will bring in as much as €15 million and that this figure could increase to €18 million by 2019.
The revenue has been used this far in a number of infrastructure upgrade projects.
Bloco de Esquerda councillors want to see the tax increased to €2 per night (with a maximum for seven nights) so that it can power improvements in transport services and ‘urban hygiene’ particularly for areas with most ‘touristic pressure’.
