Maó cruise surcharge: PP blocks up to €4 per passenger
Maó, Menorca, needs more services when cruise ships dock: a proposed cruise surcharge of up to €4 per passenger is off the table after the People’s Party (PP) voted against it in the Balearic parliament last Tuesday. The Menorca branch of the Socialist Party (PSOE) criticised the vote on Monday, 2 November. More than 100,000 cruise passengers arrived at the port in 2025, according to the party.
The proposal would have let councils in towns with cruise ports add up to €4 per passenger to the sustainable tourism tax. The money would have gone directly to the councils. Each council could have decided for itself whether to introduce the surcharge.
Elena Costa, the Socialists’ spokesperson on Maó Town Council, says cruise arrivals increase the services needed on days when ships dock. The council also maintains access to the port and invests in links between the port and the city. Maó receives no direct income from business generated at the port, Costa says.
The Socialists plan to bring motions on the surcharge to upcoming meetings of Maó Town Council and the Menorca Island Council.
Source: Europa Press / Mallorca.com