Alfonso Pecoraro Scanio, a Green environment minister in the centre-left government, has urged local authorities to copy the Mediterranean island of Sardinia by taxing yachts, private aircraft and second homes belonging to foreign visitors.
The taxes prompted protests in Sardinia when they were introduced this summer. Flavio Briatore, the Renault Formula One manager and former boyfriend of Heidi Klum and Naomi Campbell, the models, hosted a “gala VIP protest party” at his Billionaire nightclub and railed against those who thought that he and his friends “leave nothing in Sardinia except empty champagne bottles”.
Complaints from the jet set have failed to impress Pecoraro Scanio. “Demanding more of those who pollute the most is a question of common sense. The [Sardinian] model should be exported throughout the country, at least in those highly prized areas that draw crowds of visitors and need to be better cared for,” he said.
In the minister’s sights are such magnets for the glitterati as Capri, in the Bay of Naples, and the Aeolian islands north of Sicily, as well as holiday homes in the less expensive Apulia region in the heel of Italy.
Owners of luxury yachts docking at Italian ports and drivers of sport utility vehicles at Alpine resorts such Cortina d’Ampezzo should be made to pay, Pecoraro Scanio said. Even areas with fewer visitors, such as national parks, should introduce a small levy.
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Under the Sardinian tax, owners of boats more than 98ft long have to pay £13,700 per visit. Owners of second homes who do not live permanently on the island are taxed at £2,060 a year for houses of up to 2,153sq ft within two miles of the shore. Each extra 11sq ft adds £100 a year. There is also a 25% tax on properties sold.
According to port authorities, the levy has caused a fall of more than half in the number of yachts mooring there this summer. Among those who questioned the fee was the captain of the 416ft Octopus owned by Paul Allen, the co-founder of Microsoft.
Decisions on levies are made mainly by regional governments and mayors, and Pecoraro Scanio’s proposal has provoked a nationwide debate.
Massimo Cacciari, the centre-left mayor of Venice, was the first senior figure to back the idea. Cacciari, who has already introduced a levy on tourist coaches arriving in Venice, said the canal city had to come up with a way of coping with the extra costs caused by some 20m visitors a year.
“Each city hall must be given the freedom to decide. Venice cannot manage with normal taxes. If the state doesn’t subsidise us, we will have to consider a new visitor tax or something similar,” Cacciari said.
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His centre-right opponent, Giancarlo Galan, governor of the Veneto region, ruled out a luxury tax and published an advertisement in a national newspaper targeting holidaymakers who are angry at the Sardinian levy. “All those who love the sea are invited to come to the Adriatic, because they will be at their ease without paying any taxes,” it said.
In the Bay of Naples, the Green party launched a petition demanding a tax on yachts docking in Capri, Ischia or Naples. The idea was widely condemned by shopkeepers and hoteliers in Capri. Visitors already paid enough to holiday in Capri, said Sergio Gargiulo, president of the local hoteliers’ association. “A new tax would simply cause economic damage to the community,” he said.
Rocco Barocco, the fashion designer who has a villa on the island, joined the chorus of protest. But taxes on visitors are proving increasingly popular with Italian mayors. From January, Milan plans to impose a “pollution charge” on vehicles driven by non-residents. The amount has yet to be fixed but is expected to exceed £2 a day.
On the island of Lipari, north of Sicily, the authorities will increase an entry tax of 70p on all visitors to £3.50 next year.
Sardinia’s luxury tax has done nothing to deter Roman Abramovich, the billionaire owner of Chelsea football club. He not only returned to the island’s Emerald Coast this summer aboard his 340ft yacht Pelorus with two more vessels in attendance, but also searched for a villa there.
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Abramovich reportedly made an offer of more than £100m for the 27-room property of Silvio Berlusconi, the former prime minister, but was told that it was not for sale.