The Supreme Court of the Canary Islands (TSJC) has annulled Mogán Town Hall’s controversial tourist tax, ruling that the municipal bylaw introducing the charge is legally invalid after upholding an appeal brought by the Federation of Hospitality and Tourism Businesses of Las Palmas (FEHT).
The ruling, dated 28th May 2026, declares the tax ordinance approved by the council on 28th February 2025 to be null and void. The measure introduced a charge of 15 cents per person, per night for visitors staying in tourist accommodation within the municipality, with property owners responsible for collecting and paying the fee on behalf of guests.
Court finds tax lacked legal clarity
The judges concluded that the services and activities the tax was intended to fund were described in terms that were "ambiguous, imprecise, generic and highly abstract", making it impossible to determine, even approximately, what the money would actually pay for.
According to the court, this lack of clarity conflicts with Spanish Supreme Court case law, which requires local tax regulations to define clearly and precisely the purpose and basis of any charge.
The judgment also criticised Mogán Town Hall’s response during the consultation process, saying it only increased the "unacceptable vagueness" of the ordinance by failing to identify the specific public services the revenue would finance.
Tax was effectively raising general council funds
The TSJC also ruled that the charge had effectively ceased to function as a legitimate municipal fee and instead operated as a way of raising general revenue for the local authority.
While acknowledging that the council had acted "in good faith", the judges said the so-called "eco tax" had become "a genuine means of financing the Town Hall" rather than a fee directly linked to the cost of providing a specific public service.
The court found that the ordinance failed to comply with the legal principle of equivalence, which requires fees to reflect the actual cost of the services they are intended to fund and prevents local authorities from using them as a source of general income.
The ruling also orders Mogán Town Hall to pay the legal costs of the case, capped at €3,000.
The judgment is not yet final, and the council will have the opportunity to appeal.
Hotel association welcomes the decision
FEHT has welcomed the ruling, saying it fully supports the legal arguments it presented throughout the case.
In a statement, the hotel association stressed that its challenge was never intended to create conflict with the local authority but to defend legal certainty and fair taxation.
It also reiterated its long-held position that the charge functioned more like a tax than a fee, arguing that the power to introduce such taxes lies with Spain’s national or regional governments, not with local councils.
