According to Publituris, during a private executive meeting, the municipality approved the increase in the tourist tax to €3.

In a proposal accessed by the Lusa news agency, it is described that the price revision aims to "promote an appropriate balance between the promotion of tourism and the protection of the interests of the citizens (...) preventing degradation and excessive occupation".

The document contextualizes that the Vila Nova de Gaia City Tax was created in 2018 to respond "to the growth of tourist activity", but that its growth has "exerted additional pressure on public facilities, infrastructure, public roads and urban space", requiring additional investments.

“The obligation to preserve the city of Vila Nova de Gaia as a leading tourist destination and in constant development implies an investment by the municipality, namely through the carrying out of maintenance, construction, rehabilitation and requalification works on municipal public and private assets,” argues the mayor, who signs the proposal.

In the summer of 2023, the executive approved setting the rate at €2.5 per overnight stay, making the value no longer seasonal.

Until then, the tourist tax had two values: one euro/night stay in the low season (between October 1 and March 31) and two euros/night stay in the high season (between April 1 and September 30).

The Vila Nova de Gaia City Tax was unanimously approved at a council meeting on September 3, 2018, and the regulation on this tax was published in the Official Gazette (Diário da República) on October 22 of the same year.