After the surprise example of French largesse by airports operator ANA, which agreed to pay a €1 per head tourist tax on behalf of air passengers arriving in Lisbon, it was only a matter of time before other councils with airports in their areas started demanding the same treatment.
Faro has joined several municipalities to demand that ANA treats all 'airport councils' equally and collects a €1 per head tax for each foreign tourist that lands.
At issue is a protocol in which ANA assumed responsibility for the payment of a tourist tax to Lisbon council which the French-owned company estimates will cost it between €3.6 and €4.4 million in the first year of operation.
Faro has linked up with other municipalities in trying to extert pressure on ANA to send it free money, offering nothing in return.
The president of Braga council said today that the idea is to force ANA to take action as he and other council chiefs that already benefit from having airports in their areas, say it is only fair that they are treated the same as Lisbon.
The president of ANA, Ponce de Leon, explained to parliament today that the deal with Lisbon was an interim one as the tourist tax collection system proposed by the council was likely to offend some customers so ANA had stepped in until some better way was developed.
The municipalities of Faro, Maia, Matosinhos, Vila do Conde, Braga, Porto and Guimarães have teamed up to present their cases to ANA.
Far from working with ANA to develop ways of reducing costs to encourage tourism, these councils now expect the airport operator to hand them money just for being there.
