Environmental taxes in Spain

Abstract

The economics instruments to protect the environment are present in different European Countries. In this paper we analyse the effect that one of these instruments, the ecotaxes, has on a Mediterranean country, Spain. The Economy of this country is defined by two characteristics. The first is the consideration of Spain as a Federal Country and the second the importance of tourism for the Economy. In the first section, we show the ecotaxes in the three different levels of the Public Administration: Central, Regional and Local. In the second section, we introduce the concept of environmental taxes in the Regional Administration and we explain how these Governments have included the concept of Ecology in our fiscal system. Finally, in the third section, we present the main arguments to show how tourism is an important factor in the protection of the environment and how the ecotaxes could collect money to finance the different expenses in this subject.