Every passenger entering Mexico by cruise ship may soon be charged a $42 tax (€39.90)  – whether they disembark or not.

The law is the latest effort to curb overtourism in the country. Historically, Mexico’s tourist taxes have targeted hotel visitors, while cruise ship travellers who are deemed ‘in transit’ have been exempt.

Announced after a vote by Mexico’s congress, two-thirds of Mexico’s proposed cruise passenger tax would be used to fund the Mexican army.

The law, which would apply from 2026, still needs to be approved by the upper house. However, the tax, which is being called an ‘immigration document payment for foreign passengers,’ is expected to help cover the country’s enormous budget deficit.

Who will be affected by the new cruise passenger tax in Mexico?

The Mexican ports of Cozumel, Costa Maya and Cabo San Lucas are popular stops for Caribbean cruises, particularly for ships departing from Florida, Texas, and Los Angeles.

The fee is likely to be added to passengers’ total cruise ticket cost rather than absorbed by cruise companies.

Over 10 million passengers visit Mexico by cruise ship every year, with 3,300 cruise ship arrivals predicted for 2025, according to the Florida and Caribbean Cruise Association (FCCA).

The port of Cozumel receives more than half of all Mexico’s seafaring passengers and is dubbed the ‘cruise capital of the world’: It welcomes around four million cruise passengers per year, making it one of the world’s busiest ports.

Some Mexican states, such as the Quintana Roo ports, will already start charging cruise passengers a $5 (€4.75) tax from 1 January 2025 to fund a National Disaster Prevention Fund. Therefore, under the new law, cruise passengers in this region would need to pay a total tax of $47 (€44.69).

While most travel passenger taxes go directly to improving infrastructure, such as port facilities or implementing more sustainable fleets, it is not clear why the new Mexico tax is being earmarked for the country’s defence department – however, the Mexican army has previously built railways within the country.

The cruise ship industry is against Mexico’s proposed immigration levy

Many of the major industry players warn that these new charges will deter ships from docking in Mexico and instead opt for cheaper Caribbean cruise destinations.

Jamaica is one possible alternative: despite already charging a $20 (€19.01) tax per passenger, it’s still competitively priced.

“If this measure is implemented, it would make Mexican ports of call among the most expensive in the world, severely affecting their competitiveness with other Caribbean destinations,” the Mexican Association of Shipping Agents said in a statement.

Likewise, a public letter from the Florida and Caribbean Cruise Association (FCCA), which represents 23 major cruise lines, said that it would make Mexico 213 per cent more expensive than the average Caribbean port.

The FCCA stated that the tax is making them actively consider “significantly altering itineraries”.

This is no idle threat – almost two decades ago, the cruise industry repositioned ships and rerouted itineraries to avoid a hefty ‘head tax’ imposed at Alaskan ports.

The tax “could also jeopardize the cruise industry’s investments in the country, including billions in planned developments and other projects,” the FCCA cautions.

Cruise company Royal Caribbean International, for example, is planning to open a private beach club in Cozumel in 2026, followed by a water park attraction called Perfect Day Mexico in 2027 near the Costa Maya cruise port.

Mexico is one of several countries to introduce cruise initiatives amid overtourism concerns

The number of global ocean cruise passengers is on the rise. The Caribbean, Bahamas, and Bermuda are the most popular cruise destinations.

In 2023, there were 31.8 million passengers worldwide – but that number is estimated to reach 39.4 million by 2027, according to Statista.

Several popular cruise destinations in Europe have introduced fees to tackle overtourism, including Amsterdam, and the Greek Islands of Mykonos and Santorini during the summer months.

An increasing number of Caribbean countries, including the Bahamas and Barbados, have already implemented passenger departure taxes to fund environmental and sustainability goals.

Starting today, tourists arriving in Spain will have to provide more personal data to authorities.

Information requested will include home address and their relationship to children travelling in the same party.

Data will be collected by hotels, holiday rentals, campsites, travel agencies and car rental companies.

Spanish officials say the increased checks, part of a royal decree, are part of a wider crackdown on organised crime.

However, hotels have been protesting the introduction of the rules saying it will negatively impact the visitor experience.

What extra data will tourists in Spain have to provide?

From 2 December, hotels and other tourism operators will have to collect and report over 40 pieces of information for accommodation bookings and over 60 for car rental bookings.

They are already required to send the full name, email address and passport or ID number of guests to authorities within 24 hours.

New information includes payment details, home address, phone numbers, the number of guests in a party and family relationship details.

The data will then be uploaded onto a platform which will be monitored by Spanish security forces.

The new measures apply to mainland Spain and its islands, including the Balearics and the Canary Islands.

Businesses which do not comply face fines of up to €30,000.

Spanish hotels protest new data collection rules

Hoteliers have been calling for the new decree to be dismissed or watered down.

CEHAT, Spain’s leading hotel association, succeeded in postponing its introduction, which was originally slated for January 2023.

But other than that, the group says they have received no communication from the authorities or offers of solutions.

“We have been requesting dialogue and concrete proposals for months to guarantee legal security and the viability of the sector, but we have not received any response,” Jorge Marichal, president of CEHAT, said in a press release.

CEHAT has now said it is considering legal action due to the “negative impact that this regulation will have on the hotel sector and travellers themselves”.

“Given this lack of political will, we are forced to propose legal avenues to protect both business owners and travellers,” added Marichal.

How will the new rules impact travellers?

CEHAT says the new regulations will mean more complex and tedious administrative procedures, compromising visitors’ accommodation experience.

Travel agencies have said the procedures will impinge on people’s privacy and add a bureaucratic burden they cannot afford.

This may increase working hours and, as a consequence, push up prices for travellers.

The European Travel Agents’ and Tour Operators’ Associations (ECTAA) and Spanish travel agency group ACAVE have warned about “severe repercussions for the European tourism market and the protection of travellers’ personal data”.

How does this differ from other EU countries?

In other EU countries, hotels and other forms of accommodation are also required to check guests’ passports or IDs.

In several countries, including Croatia, Italy and Germany, information including names, contact details and ID numbers must be reported to authorities.

“It’s like this almost every day,” laments Paola, who is waiting for her train to go to Barcelona for work. It’s already one hour and 45 minutes late. She still doesn’t know when she will be able to leave Madrid.

“This is a huge problem. It’s okay when you have occasional delays, but when it becomes the norm, we have to ask ourselves questions.”

Like her, many Spaniards share daily on social media their mishaps and anger about the chaotic train situation across the country.

At the end of October, an overturned train and a passenger in a prohibited area blocked nearly 15,000 passengers in the two main train stations in Madrid.

In recent years, problems of all kinds have skyrocketed throughout the railway network.

Delays, breakdowns, crowds in stations, copper thefts that leave trains without service, trains stopped in tunnels, and passengers stuck for hours without water or electricity regularly make the European headlines.

“The most important problem, further than cancellations or delays, is that the quality of the service offered by the operators has deteriorated,” explains Jorge Morera from the Public Transport Promotion Association, a Spanish organisation that defends sustainable mobility through public transport.

“There are major capacity issues at stations, and there is poor management of disruption, which now affects passengers on a daily basis, even more on local and regional networks.”

Spanish national company Renfe recorded the highest number of delays in its history last year, both with its AVE high-speed services and medium-distance trains, according to a company report.

Renfe claimed many causes, including the rising demand for rail, numerous improvement works within the railway network, and issues related to competing companies.

Spain’s trains have more competition, but at what price?

Spain has a unique train situation in Europe, as three different train companies operate high-speed services.

Renfe lost its monopoly in 2021, and since then, it’s been pitted against the French state train company Ouigo España, and Iryo, which is partly owned by Italy’s Trenitalia rail firm.

In response to this increased competition, Renfe launched its own low-cost, Renfe Avlo.

“We have more trains and better prices, which is good, but there are some other things that are not good for passengers,” says Morera. “Renfe has changed its policies and reduced the compensation for disruption since this new scenario. This is not good news for passengers.”

Renfe no longer offers refunds of the full ticket price for delays of only 30 minutes. Instead, it compensates 50 per cent for delays of one hour and 100 per cent for delays beyond 90 minutes.

The drop in prices and the opening up to competition led to a huge increase in traffic and passengers.

Train travellers set a historical record in Spain last year, exceeding 665.2 million passengers, a 20 per cent increase compared to 2019, according to data from the Spanish national statistics institute (INE).

“I think the keyword is growing pains,” said Juan Montero, a professor of administrative law and economic regulation at the National Distance Education University (UNED) in Madrid.

“The transformation that was introduced by liberalisation has been a really big success for users”, he says.

“The number of trains running in the network and the number of passengers have dramatically increased. Some corridors even double. But the system still has some trouble adapting to it. Problems are, in some ways, the consequences of success,” adds Montero.

The Spanish rail network must modernise and expand

Faced with increased traffic and a lack of investment during the financial crisis, several projects are underway on the rail network, such as the transformation of the Charmartin train station in Madrid.

One goal is to double the capacity of high-speed rail and reach a total of 25 train tracks.

The project is scheduled to be completed in June 2026. Ultimately, it could increase passenger numbers up to 55 million in 2030 – up from 36 million in 2023.

But until then, the station has caused delays for both commuter and medium- and long-distance lines.

The expansion of the Barcelona Sants station faces similar challenges.

The arrival of new trains manufactured by the national company Talgo also has a share of responsibility after the network had to wait more than two years for delivery.

“These new trains caused some troubles. They were late to deliver it, and it seems that they rushed the contract a bit to furnish these trains 100 per cent ready to run,” says Juan Montero.

Renfe has blamed the manufacturer for the incidents and breakdowns of its new trains and is now claiming millions in damages.

Spain also needs to modernise its signalling system, particularly on the oldest Madrid-Sevilla line: “It is an extremely expensive and time-consuming operation,” adds Montero.

What’s the future of Spain’s railway network?

Will the Spanish rail situation improve in the long term? It’s hard to say, especially since the country’s three low-cost train operators are still expanding their activities. Rival services covering Andalusia are due to be launched next month.

“It’s true that delays are getting worse in Spain, but it’s more on a specific period. And if we compare it to other EU countries, it’s way less,” says Montero. “In France, for example, it’s not an event, it’s a constant”.

“Spain was well connected with many countries with night trains before,” adds Morera, “but since the coronavirus, these trains have decreased, and a lot of connections to Spain with France and other countries have disappeared.”

Morera hopes that efforts will also be made to consider travellers’ needs, including more intermobility and cross-border connections. That’s when the leader of Europe’s rail renaissance will truly shuttle into the future.