Tourists to Spain will face more paperwork from Monday when a new law requires hoteliers and car rental companies to submit personal information about their customers to the government.
These rules, which also apply to rental properties and campsites, are brought in for national security reasons, but tourism experts have raised privacy concerns and warned that it could lead to delays at check-in desks.
The required data will include passport details, home addresses and payment methods for those over 14 years of age. It will be sent to the Minister of Interior.
The Confederation of Spanish Hoteliers and Tourist Accommodation (CEHAT) said it is concerned about the impact on its members’ businesses and is considering legal action to challenge the rules.
Spain is the second most popular tourist destination in Europe, with more than 82m visitors by 2023, led by 17m from the UK.
The start date of the new rules – officially known as Royal Decree 933/2021 – was pushed back from 1 October to 2 December, to give the industry more time to prepare.
Both tourists and Spanish citizens will be required to provide information, which will include phone numbers, email addresses and the number of travelers.
Businesses will need to register with the Home Office, report 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) for breaches.
Meanwhile, Airbnb has told landlords who rent accommodation through its website that they will need to be registered with the Spanish government and collect data from their customers.
In a statement, the Ministry of Interior said the laws are “appropriate to achieve the safety of citizens against the threat of terrorism and other serious crimes committed by criminal organizations”.
But hotel industry body CEHAT said the change “puts the viability of the sector at serious risk”.
It said that Spanish tourists and citizens would have to deal with “complicated and troublesome administrative procedures, which jeopardize their stay experience”.
It added that hoteliers are forced to comply with “confusing and uneven regulations” that conflict with other European directives related to data protection and payment systems.
Travel journalist Simon Calder told the BBC that the Spanish government is concerned about organized crime and terrorism and “wants to know… who’s coming and going, where they’re staying and what cars they’re hiring”.
It is expected that many accommodation and car rental providers will automate data collection through online registration.
Mr Calder thought there would be “a lot of standing in the lobby” when the rules come in but said it was “very low season” at the moment and that would give businesses time to adapt to the system.
Gibraltar-based Penelope Bielckus, travel content creator for The Flyaway Girl blog, said the new rules “add another layer of paperwork that can feel like a chore when all you want is a relaxing holiday”.
And he admitted that “they might slow things down a bit, especially during check-in, as there are already a lot of books to handle”.
But he said that while Spain’s level of data collection “feels tighter” than elsewhere, hotels and car rental companies already collect much of the information needed from travelers.
“We are still waiting to see how this will affect things like booking hotels at the last minute or renting a car,” he added. “Hopefully, it won’t cause any major problems, but it’s definitely something to look out for in case of changes.”
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