Visitors to Spain will face more paperwork from Monday, when a new law requiring hotel owners and car rental companies to send personal information about their guests to the government comes into force.
The rules, which also apply to rental properties and campsites, are being introduced for national security reasons, but tourism experts have raised privacy concerns and warned it could lead to delays at tourist counters. registration.
Data required will include passport details, home addresses and payment methods for those over 14 years of age. They will be submitted to the Ministry of the Interior.
The Spanish Confederation of Hoteliers and Tourist Accommodations (CEHAT) said it was concerned about the impact on its members' businesses and was considering legal action to challenge the rules.
Spain is the second most popular destination for tourists in Europe, with more than 82 million visitors in 2023, led by 17 million from the UK.
The effective date of the new rules – officially known as Royal Decree 933/2021 – has been pushed back from October 1 to December 2, to give the sector more time to prepare.
Tourists and Spanish residents will be required to provide information, which will also include telephone numbers, email addresses and number of travelers.
Businesses will have to be registered with the Home Office, report the data collected daily and keep a digital record of the information for three years and face fines of between €100 and €30,000 (£80-25,000) in case of violation.
Meanwhile, Airbnb has told owners renting out accommodation through its website that they will have to register with the Spanish government and collect their guests' data.
In a statement, the Interior Ministry said the regulations were “justified by the general interest in the security of citizens against the threat of terrorism and other serious crimes committed by criminal organizations.”
But hospitality industry body CEHAT said the change “puts the viability of the sector at serious risk”.
Tourists and Spanish citizens will have to deal with “complex and tedious administrative procedures, compromising their accommodation experience”.
It adds that hoteliers are forced to comply with “confusing and disproportionate regulations” that go against other European directives related to data protection and payment systems.
Travel journalist Simon Calder told the BBC that the Spanish government was concerned about organized crime and terrorism and “just wants to know… who is coming and going, where they are staying and what cars they are renting”.
Many accommodation and car rental providers are expected to automate data collection through online registration.
Mr Calder envisaged there would be “a lot of people at reception” when the rules came into force, but said it was “very low season” at the moment and would give businesses a chance to get used to the system.
Gibraltar-based Penelope Bielckus, a travel content creator at The Flyaway Girl blog, said the new rules “add another layer of paperwork that can feel like a chore when all you want to do is relax on vacation.”
And she acknowledged that they “might slow things down a bit, especially at check-in, because there's now more paperwork to deal with.”
But she added that although the level of data collection in Spain “seems more stringent” than elsewhere, hotels and car rental companies already collect much of the required information from travelers.
“We're still waiting to see how this will affect things like last-minute hotel reservations or car rentals,” she added. “Hopefully it won't cause any major issues, but it's definitely something to keep an eye on if anything changes.”
